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    Fourth Circuit: Arbitration Agreement in Employee Handbook Not Binding

              A recent decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that a North Carolina employee suing under federal and North Carolina law for wage and hour violations was not required to participate in arbitration despite an arbitration clause in her employee handbook.[1]  The Fourth Circuit acknowledged that North Carolina law would ordinarily bind the employee via implied consent to the clause, but she signed an acknowledgement form upon receipt of the handbook that expressly stated the handbook provisions did not constitute a binding contract.             Rose Lorenzo, an employee of Prime Communications, LP, managed a…