Fresh Inc. HR Worker Must Arbitrate Bias Suit

A Fresh Inc. human resources employee must arbitrate her workplace discrimination suit against the beauty and skin-care company and its parent LVMH Inc., a New York federal court ruled Tuesday. Kharisma McNeil had claimed in her suit that as an African-American woman with medical issues, she has been overlooked for promotions and pay raises while working as an office services manager at Fresh, a position she still holds. Her suit made claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which governs workplace discrimination, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The defendants have denied her discrimination claims.  In her lawsuit in December, McNeil acknowledged that her claims would ordinarily have to be arbitrated as part of her employment agreement, but argued the defendants violated the agreement because they didn’t pay the arbitration fees in time to start the process. The defendants paid the fees about two weeks after they received notice of McNeil’s arbitration claim, according to court documents. On Tuesday, a New York federal judge wrote that doesn’t necessarily show that Fresh and LVMH violated the agreement, and that the question itself should be for an arbitrator to decide. “This case is in the earliest stages of litigation,” the judge

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