Rivers

I. BACKGROUND

In June 2021, Rivers, representing himself, sued the University in San Francisco County Superior Court. He alleged four causes of action—for the infliction of emotional distress, denial of his student right to due process, discrimination, and denial of his state constitutional right to an education. They all were based on his allegation that the University wrongly canceled his enrollment as a student at the University after learning he was a registered sex offender. He included in the exhibits to his complaint an “enrollment agreement” that he had entered into with the University, which provides for cancellation of the agreement by the parties and requires arbitration before the American Arbitration Association (AAA) in the event of a dispute between them “arising out of or relating to the terms of this Agreement.” He also included a letter from Vartain stating that the Academy of Art University had canceled the agreement on May 19, 2021. After answering Rivers’s complaint and asserting as an affirmative defense that Rivers’s exclusive remedy was contractual arbitration, the University petitioned the court to compel arbitration and stay the action based on the…