Garcia v. Stoneledge Furniture LLC, 102 Cal. App. 5th 41 (2024)

On the first day of Isabel Garcia’s employment, she completed onboarding paperwork electronically. When in 2021, Garcia sued her employer under the Fair Employment and Housing Act alleging a store manager sexually assaulted her, the employer moved to compel arbitration. Garcia opposed to the motion to compel by denying that she ever actually electronically signed the arbitration agreement and said she did not remember anyone ever asking her to do so. The trial court denied the motion to compel arbitration, and the appellate court affirmed on the ground that the employer failed to prove the authenticity of the signature, and the evidence it provided did not show that only Garcia could have placed the electronic signature on the arbitration agreement. The employer could have presented stronger evidence “that the signatory was required to use a unique, private login and password to affix the electronic signature, along with evidence detailing the procedures the person had to follow to electronically sign the document and the accompanying security precautions.” Instead, the employer submitted evidence in a declaration that only “summarily concluded” that Garcia signed the arbitration agreement. See also Ramirez v. Golden Queen Mining Co., LLC, 102 Cal. App. 5th 821 (2024) (reversing trial court’s denial of motion to compel arbitration, holding that plaintiff’s declaration that he did not remember signing arbitration agreement did not rebut the employer’s initial showing that an arbitration agreement existed).