Originially from: World Arbitration and Mediation Review (WAMR)

VI. CONTRACTUAL CHALLENGES
An employee may also use traditional contract arguments to attack
a purported arbitration agreement. Because resolution of these challenges
is a matter of state law, the case law varies substantially from jurisdiction
to jurisdiction. Finally, note that where the employee challenges the
contract as a whole, rather than the arbitration clause in particular, many
courts will, as discussed earlier in Section IV, refer the contractual dispute
to the arbitrators for resolution.
A. The mere fact that an arbitration clause is imposed as a contract of
adhesion is unlikely to invalidate the clause:
1. Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp., 500 U.S. 20 (1991)
(holding that securities industry employee who had been
required to sign Form U-4 calling for arbitration would have to
arbitrate rather than litigate ADEA claims);