When an employee's only answer to a motion to compel arbitration was "I don't remember signing it," the employer won 20 of 22 times in the California rulings we reviewed. In both of the 2 employee wins, the court held the employer had not proved the employee signed the agreement.

The number

What happened on the employer's motion Cases
Employer won: the case went to arbitration (fully or in part) 92 of 117
Employee won: the case stayed in court 25 of 117

These are individual employment cases, with no class or PAGA claim and no sexual harassment claim, where the employer moved to compel arbitration, as of October 24, 2026.

What decides it: the signature fight

The most common reason employees won was that the court found no valid agreement: 12 of the 25 employee wins. The other reasons: the agreement was unfairly one-sided (7), the employer gave up its right to arbitrate (2), the party moving had not signed (1), the employer missed an arbitration fee (1), and other grounds (2).

In those 12 wins, the fight was usually about the signature:

Why the court found no valid agreement Cases
The employer could not prove the employee signed (authentication failed) 6 of 12
The employee gave a specific sworn account, beyond "I don't recall" 4 of 12
Other no-agreement grounds 2 of 12

California law asks whether an electronic signature "was the act of the person" (Civ. Code § 1633.9(a), as quoted in Ruiz v. Moss Bros. Auto Group, Inc. (2014) 232 Cal.App.4th 836). In Ruiz, the employer's proof fell short: "We conclude Moss Bros, did not present sufficient evidence to support a finding that Ruiz electronically signed the 2011 agreement."

What the average hides: "I don't recall" vs. a sworn account

What the employee said made a big difference.

  • "I don't recall," and nothing more: the employer won 20 of 22. One court put it this way: "Plaintiff also does not deny signing the Agreement, only that he does not recall signing it." (Los Angeles, 26STCV09348, 2026-07-16.)
  • The 2 exceptions: both came from the employer's weak proof, not the employee's memory. "Defendant has not met its burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, the existence of a valid arbitration agreement authenticated as the act of Plaintiff." (Los Angeles, 25STCV04788, 2026-07-07.)
  • A specific sworn account: this won 4 of the no-agreement fights. One employee declared: "I was never given an arbitration agreement, and I never signed one." (Los Angeles, 25STCV19045, 2026-05-08.)
  • A weak authentication by the employer: "The Court denies the motion because Yoshinoya has not met its minimal burden to properly authenticate Fowlkes' electronic signature." (Los Angeles, 25STCV36446, 2026-05-21.)

What to do

If you represent the employer If you represent the employee
Have a declarant with personal knowledge explain how the electronic signature was made and why it could only have been the employee's act. That is where 6 of the 12 no-agreement losses came from. "I don't recall" alone lost 20 of 22 times. If it is true, have the employee swear to specifics: never given the agreement, never signed it.
A bare "I don't recall" declaration is weak against a well-authenticated signature. Test the employer's authentication. A declarant without personal knowledge of how the signature was made is the opening.

Method: 117 individual employment cases in California superior court tentative rulings where the employer moved to compel arbitration and the court decided the motion, as of October 24, 2026. Cases with a class, PAGA, or sexual harassment claim are left out. Outcomes and reasons are LawSnap's coding of each ruling, checked against the court's disposition language. Some reason categories are small, so these are counts, not rates. These are tentative rulings, not precedent, and these counts are not odds of winning. Nothing here is legal advice.