Herschel Jamal Ham v. Thermofisher Scientific, Austin Maintenance and Construction, Inc., Eric Bingaman, and Janet Ayyad Ismail

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina adopts a magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation concerning motions to dismiss and compel arbitration of Plaintiff's Title VII employment discrimination claims. The court grants the motions to compel arbitration, dismisses the action without prejudice so the parties may proceed to arbitration, and dismisses the individual defendants as parties.

Holdings

1. Because no specific objections were filed, the district court was required only to determine whether clear error appeared on the face of the record; finding none, it adopted the Report and Recommendation in its entirety.
2. The corporate defendants were entitled to compel arbitration because the plaintiff entered into a valid and enforceable arbitration agreement with Austin Maintenance and Construction, Inc., the agreement encompassed the Title VII claims, and Thermofisher Scientific could enforce the agreement under equitable-estoppel principles despite being a nonsignatory.
3. The action was dismissed without prejudice so that the parties could proceed to arbitration.
4. Eric Bingaman and Janet Ayyad Ismail were dismissed as parties based on the plaintiff's express consent to their dismissal.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the magistrate judge's Report and Recommendation should be adopted when no party filed specific objections.
2. Whether the plaintiff's Title VII claims against the corporate defendants were subject to the employment arbitration agreement.
3. Whether the action should be dismissed without prejudice after all asserted claims were determined to be arbitrable.
4. Whether the individual defendants should be dismissed as parties based on the plaintiff's express consent.

Disposition

dismissed