On January 7, 2009, the Contra Costa Superior Court issued an order in a race discrimination and whistleblower retaliation case, finding unconscionable and unenforceable the arbitration agreement that Countrywide Home Loans company requires its employees to sign as a condition of employment. The court found two unconscionable provision in the arbitration agreement: (1) a provision giving the arbitrator exclusive authority to determine the arbitrability of employment case, and (2) a provision giving Countrywide the unilateral right to modify the agreement.
Having found the binding arbitration agreement unconscionable, the court struck that agreement as void and unenforceable, thus allowing the plaintiff to proceeds with his employment discrimination and retaliation claims to jury trial.