Texas Court Rejects Unconscionability, FAA Challenges to Sears’ Arbitration Agreement

DALLAS — A federal judge has rejected arguments that an arbitration agreement required of all Sears employees is either inapplicable or unconscionable as applied to claims by the survivors of a deceased maintenance worker.

Chief Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Aug. 14 granted a motion to compel arbitration of claims by the Estate of Juan Benitez, and stayed a lawsuit filed on behalf of the estate and Benitez’s family.

The Benitez family sued Sears in state court, alleging that the company was to blame for Juan’s accidental death …