Lopez v. Fox Television Animation
Filed 3/27/06 Lopez v. Fox Television Animation CA2/3
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION THREE
| MIGUEL A. LOPEZ, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. FOX TELEVISION ANIMATION, INC. et al., Defendants and Appellants. | B177245 (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BC264373) |
APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Soussan Bruegera, Judge. Affirmed.
Ann K. Calfas and Timothy S. Lykowski for Fox Television Animation, Inc., Defendant and Appellant.
Connon & Wood and Nicholas P. Connon for Manpay LLC doing business as EPSG Management Services, Defendant and Appellant.
Schonbrun, DeSimone, Seplow, Harris & Hoffman, Wilmer J. Harris and Peggy Roman-Jacobson for Plaintiff and Respondent.
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INTRODUCTION
Defendants Fox Television Animation, Inc. (Fox) and Manpay LLC, doing business as EPSG Management Services (together defendants), appeal from the order of the trial court that denied their petition to compel arbitration. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1294, subd. (a).) The trial court's ruling was based on its finding that the union representing plaintiff Miguel Lopez, the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists and Affiliated Optical Electronic and Graphic Arts, Local 839, I.A.T.S.E. (Local 839), had not clearly and unmistakably waived its members' right to resolve statutory discrimination claims in a judicial forum. Defendants contend that the order was error. We hold that Local 839's collective-bargaining agreement (CBA) does not contain a clear and unmistakable waiver of the right to try statutory employment discrimination claims in a judicial forum. We further conclude that Lopez did not waive his right to judicial resolution of his statutory claims by submitting his discrimination grievance first to an arbitrator under the CBA. Accordingly, we affirm the order.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
1. The relevant clauses of the CBA.
As a character designer hired by Fox in June 1999 to create animation models for â€
