Matthews v. Rollins Hudig Hall Co.

James Matthews (plaintiff) was a consultant hired at age 66 by Rollins Hudig Hall Company (Rollins Hall) (defendant) for a five-year term pursuant to an employment contract. Rollins Hall agreed that it could fire Matthews only for cause. The employment contract provided that any claim relating to any breach of the contract would be resolved by arbitration. Shortly before the five-year term expired, Rollins Hall fired Matthews, purportedly for cause, asserting that Matthews had breached the employment contract by failing to promote Rollins Hall’s business. Matthews responded by filing a demand for arbitration, claiming wrongful termination under the contract. Matthews also filed suit in federal court, alleging that Rollins Halls had violated the Age Discrimination Employment Act (ADEA) because Matthew’s age was the actual reason for the termination and that Rollins Hall had breached the employment contract by terminating Matthews without proper cause. Matthews subsequently amended the complaint to assert a fraudulent-inducement claim, alleging that Rollins Hall had falsely represented to Matthews that Matthews was not required to promote or generate any new business for Rollins Hall. Rollins Hall motioned the court to compel arbitration and to stay the lawsuit pending the arbitration. The court denied Rollins Hall’s motion, concluding that Matthews’s ADEA and fraudulent-inducement claims did not trigger the arbitration clause because those claims did not relate to any alleged breaches of the employment contract. Rollins Hall appealed.