DISPUTE RESOLUTION AGREEMENT

  1. I and Scoot Education Inc. (“the Company”) agree to utilize binding individual arbitration to resolve all disputes that might arise out of or be related in any way to my application for employment and/or employment by the Company. Such disputes include, but are not limited to, claims I might bring against the Company for wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, wage and hour violations, and torts such as invasion of privacy, assault and battery, or defamation. Such disputes also include claims that the Company might bring against me such as, for example, theft of money or trade secrets, breach of a confidentiality agreement, or breach of a contract. I and the Company each specifically waive our respective rights to bring such claims against the other in a court of law and to have a trial by jury.
  2. The only exceptions to binding arbitration shall be for claims arising under the National Labor Relations Act which are brought before the National Labor Relations Board, claims for medical and disability benefits or other forms of compensation under state workers’ compensation law, claims for unemployment insurance, or other claims that are not subject to arbitration under law, including but not limited to claims for sexual harassment and/or sexual assault brought under state or federal law unless I voluntarily elect to submit such claims to arbitration. Moreover, nothing herein shall prevent me from filing a charge or complaint with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or a similar state or local agency that allows me to file an administrative charge or complaint. Once the agency’s proceedings are completed, however, if I wish to pursue the matter further, I understand that I must do so under this Agreement.
  3. My agreement to arbitrate claims against the Company includes claims I might bring against the Company’s parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, customers, or client entities as well as against owners, directors, officers, managers, employees, agents, contractors, attorneys, benefit plan administrators, and insurers of the Company or of its parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, customers or client entities. I also agree to arbitrate claims against any person or entity I allege to be a joint employer with the Company.
  4. Both I and the Company agree that any claims we might pursue against the other in arbitration under this agreement shall be brought in my individual capacity or that of the Company. This agreement shall not be construed to allow or permit the consolidation or joinder of claims of other claimants, or to permit such claims to proceed as a class, representative, or collective action. No arbitrator shall have the authority under this agreement to order any such class, representative, or collective action. Any dispute regarding the validity, scope, or enforceability of this agreement, or concerning the arbitrability of a particular claim, shall be resolved by a court, not by the arbitrator. I agree to waive any substantive or procedural rights that I may have to bring or participate in an action brought on a class, representative, or collective basis.
  5. If I wish to bring a claim to arbitration under this agreement, I understand that I must provide written notice of such a claim to the Company’s Human Resources Department at 5670 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 1970, Los Angeles, CA 90036. I understand that I have the right to be represented by an attorney in the arbitration of any claim under this agreement, but it is not required that I have an attorney. I further understand that I must present notice of any claim in arbitration before the statute of limitations expires for that type of claim.
  6. At the beginning of any arbitration process under this agreement, I and the Company will need to select an arbitrator by mutual agreement. Such an arbitrator shall be a retired state or federal court judge in the state in which the dispute arose, or another qualified and impartial person that I and the Company decide upon, and shall be subject to disqualification on the same grounds as would apply to a judge in a court proceeding. In the event we cannot agree on the selection of an arbitrator, I and the Company will select an alternative dispute resolution provider and request from that provider a list of an odd number of potential arbitrators. From that list we will alternatively strike arbitrators, with the Company going first, until one arbitrator is left. That arbitrator shall be the arbitrator who will hear our case. If I and the Company cannot agree on an alternative dispute resolution provider, an arbitrator will be appointed according to law.
  7. Any arbitration proceeding under this agreement shall proceed under and be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act, in conformity with the arbitration law of the state in which the dispute arose. In any arbitration proceeding under this agreement, all rules of pleading under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Federal Rules of Evidence, and all rights to resolution of the dispute by means of motions for summary judgment or judgment on the pleadings shall apply and be observed unless I and the Company agree otherwise. The arbitrator shall have the immunity of a judicial officer from civil liability when acting in the capacity of an arbitrator, which immunity supplements any other existing immunity. Likewise, all communications during or in connection with the arbitration proceedings shall be privileged. The arbitrator’s award(s) shall include the arbitrator’s written reasoned opinion. Resolution of all disputes shall be based solely upon the law governing the claims and defenses pleaded, and the arbitrator may not invoke any basis (including but not limited to, notions of “just cause”) other than such controlling law.
  8. The Company will pay the arbitrator’s fees and other costs relating to the arbitration forum but I and the Company will be responsible for our own costs and for our attorneys’ fees should we choose to be represented by counsel, unless the arbitrator shifts one party’s costs and attorneys’ fees to the other party in accordance with applicable law. It is agreed that the Company shall not be responsible for paying the arbitrator’s fees and costs for the arbitration hearing sooner than 60 days before the commencement of the arbitration hearing.
  9. If any term or provision or any portion of this agreement is deemed invalid or unenforceable, it shall be severed and the remainder of this agreement shall be enforceable. Under no circumstances shall this agreement be construed to allow arbitration on a class, collective, or other similar basis, however.
  10. I confirm that I have had time to read this agreement and ask the Company’s representative any questions I had about the agreement prior to signing this agreement. I further confirm that I am signing this agreement voluntarily and not under any duress or threat of negative consequences for not signing the agreement.

MY SIGNATURE BELOW CONFIRMS THE FACT THAT I HAVE READ, UNDERSTAND, AND VOLUNTARILY AGREE TO BE LEGALLY BOUND TO ALL OF THE ABOVE TERMS.  I FURTHER UNDERSTAND THAT THIS AGREEMENT REQUIRES THE COMPANY AND ME TO ARBITRATE ANY AND ALL DISPUTES THAT ARISE OUT OF MY APPLICATION FOR EMPLOYMENT AND EMPLOYMENT EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY EXCLUDED HEREIN, AND THAT I AND THE COMPANY ARE GIVING UP OUR RIGHTS TO A TRIAL BY JURY.

DO NOT SIGN UNTIL YOU HAVE READ THE ABOVE ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND AGREEMENT.