In employment cases, Plaintiff’s claim that arbitration agreements with small or blurry print should not be enforced as substantively and procedurally unconscionable due to the difficulty in reading the words in the contract.
On February 2, 2026, the California Supreme Court in Fuentes v. Empire Nissan, Inc. gave employers with such contracts new hope of enforcement concluding that a lack of legibility does not render an arbitration agreement unenforceable. Moreover, the Supreme Court held that the format (tiny print) is not relevant to test whether the terms are substantively unconscionable because font size does not mean that a contractual term is unduly harsh, one sided or unfair.
However, it should not be lost on employers that the Supreme Court cautioned courts that contracts with difficult-to-read terms should be “closely scrutinized” for unfairness or one-sidedness.
In addition, the Supreme Court held that fine print and difficult to read language will help support a claim of procedural unconscionability. Nevertheless, despite the Plaintiff’s contention that she only had five minutes to consider the contract of adhesion and sign it and other indicia of procedural concerns, the Supreme Court remanded back to the trial court for additional findings and decisions about both the validity of the contract and its enforceability.
Future Considerations For Employers
Employers should take solace that the California Supreme Court continues to view arbitration agreements arising from employment relationships as enforceable contracts.
Given that the Court criticized fine print and other formatting aspects that render an agreement difficult to read, employers should work with counsel to minimize legalisms and run on paragraphs and sentences.
So, employers considering implementing arbitration agreements should consult with counsel to best ensure that the agreement will be enforced. And, if employers have not updated arbitration agreements with employees recently, they should consider consulting counsel about whether a tune up or update is warranted.
Please feel free to contact Dan M. Forman or your favorite CDF lawyer to assist with any review or implementation of an arbitration agreement.
