"Cisco Loses Bid to Arbitrate Age Bias Suit", 17 Jan 2017

A California judge on Tuesday rejected an attempt by Cisco Systems Inc. to route an age discrimination suit brought by a veteran product manager at the company into arbitration.  Ann Bark, 63, has worked at Cisco since 1998.  She sued the company in August alleging that she had been denied career opportunities and bonuses as a result of her age.  Represented by the Louderback Law Group, Bark alleges that she has lost over $100,000 in compensation as a result of age discrimination, and that she has experienced "extreme stress and reputational damage."  Cisco's attorneys at Littler Mendelson moved to compel arbitration in December.  But on Tuesday, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn ruled that the arbitration clause was unenforceable because it had been buried in a contract that largely focused on intellectual property issues, and because it contained other "unconscionable" provisions...Cisco intends to appeal the ruling.