Vs.
Annette R. Phillips
173 F.3d 933; 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 6329
Facts
The defendant - Annette Phillips - had been employed by Hooters in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The plaintiff of the case was Hooters of America, Inc. When she was hired by Hooters Annette Phillips signed an arbitration agreement as part of her employment contract. This agreement stated that any conflict that arose between her and the employer would be handled through an arbitration process. Inside this agreement Hooters had listed their arbitration procedures. Along with this, Hooters had the ability to change these procedures if/when they felt it was necessary based on the conflict, etc. Annette was unaware of these circumstances because she had not been shown all of this information until after the contract had been signed. Annette Phillips was allegedly sexually harassed in the Hooters restaurant which she had been working in. Because of this situation she quit working for Hooters and attempted to sue them, to which they responded with a declaratory action and motion for an arbitration.
Issue …show more content…
The defendant wasn’t aware of the Hooters arbitration rules and procedures because they wanted to keep her in the dark on purpose. Annette was also at a large disadvantage due to her contract being heavily one-sided in favor of the employer. The question was brought up as to if Hooters (the employer) held too much power within this contract to the point where it is an unjust contract. Another concern is that the procedures will be too biased because of this power to the