Employees asserting claims of military service discrimination can be forced to arbitrate those claims if they sign a valid arbitration agreement. See Bodine v. Cook’s Pest Control, Inc., No. 15-13233, 2016 WL 4056031 (11th Cir. Jul. 29, 2016). In Bodine, Mr. Bodine claimed that his supervisor made disparaging remarks, took work away from him, and ultimately terminated him because of his service in the United States Army Reserves. As a result, he sued Cook’s Pest Control under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (“USERRA”).
However, Mr. Bodine also signed an employment contract requiring arbitration of all employment disputes. He claimed that the arbitration clause was void, because it contained terms that violated USERRA: (1) a provision allowing the arbitrator to impose attorneys’ fees and costs on Mr. Bodine; and, (2) a six-month statute of limitations. USERRA explicitly provides that there is not statute of limitations for USERRA claims and and that court costs and fees cannot be assessed against a USERRA plaintiff like Mr. Bodine.
The Eleventh Circuit recognized that USERRA also has a “non-waiver” provision which prevents employees like Mr. Bodine from waiving their USERRA rights. Based upon that provision, Mr. Bodine argued that the entire arbitration provision was void, because it would force him to waive some of his USERRA rights.
The Eleventh Circuit disagreed. It found that the “non-waiver” provision would void only the two offending provisions of the arbitration clause — not the entire clause. Thus, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed an order sending Mr. Bodine’s USERRA claims to arbitration.