The principal issue presented in this appeal is what constitutes sufficient consideration to support an agreement in Wisconsin to arbitrate between an employer and an at-will employee. The appellant, Ilah M. Tinder, sued her former employer, Pinkerton Security, for employment discrimination and retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e et seq. Citing what it claimed was an enforceable agreement to arbitrate the dispute, Pinkerton moved the district court under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) to stay the trial proceedings and compel Tinder to arbitrate her dispute. The district court granted the motion, concluding that the agreement was enforceable. Later, after Pinkerton prevailed at arbitration, the district court confirmed the arbitrator’s award in favor of Pinkerton, and Tinder appeals. Because the district court correctly concluded that the agreement was enforceable under Wisconsin law and compelled arbitration, we affirm.
I.
Tinder began employment with Pinkerton on October 21, 1996, and was assigned to work as a security officer at a General Motors facility in Janesville, Wisconsin. The following day, Tinder received a copy of Pinkerton’s employee handbook and signed an “Employee Acknowledgment Form.” The first paragraph made clear that the form was a contract for employment at-will:
My employment by Pinkerton is strictly an employment at will terminable by either Pinkerton or myself at any time, in either party’s sole discretion, without advance notice. No Pinkerton representative has authority to modify this policy. I understand that at no time may I rely on any policies, procedures, customs and/or statements, whether written or oral, to constitute a modification of this express condition of my employment.
*731 The form further provided that the handbook was not to be construed as a supplement to or modification of the employment contract, and that Pinkerton reserved “the right to change its policies, rules ‘at-will’ employment policy as stated in Paragraph 1.” When notifying its employees of policy or rule changes, Pinkerton typically inserts a “payroll stuffer” in the envelope with each employee’s paycheck. Occasionally, notices of policy or rule changes are accompanied by acknowledgment forms that employees were required to sign and return to management.
In October 1997, Pinkerton issued to all of its employees as a payroll stuffer a color brochure entitled “Pinkerton’s Arbitration Program.” The brochure announced that Pinkerton was instituting a mandatory arbitration program effective January 1, 1998, broadly covering all legal claims including discrimination under the federal civil rights statutes:
Any claims or controversies ... either Pinkerton may have against you or you may have against the Company or against its officers, directors, employees, or agents in their capacity as such, must be resolved by arbitration instead of the courts, whether or not such claims arise out of your employment (or its termination). The claims covered include, but are not limited to, ... discrimination (including, but not limited to, race, sex, religion, national origin, age, marital status, or medical condition, handicap, or disability); ... and claims for violation of any federal, state or other governmental law, statute, regulation, or ordinance ....
This language was clarified elsewhere in the brochure using a question-and-answer format. The brochure emphasized that the arbitration agreement would not bar employees from bringing legal claims, and that both the employees and the company were bound by the policy:
Q. Do I lose any substantive rights under this program?
A. No, your substantive legal rights remain intact. All that changes- is that an arbitrator, rather than a judge or jury, will resolve the disputes.
‡ ‡
Q. Is Pinkerton bound by these arbitration provisions?
A. Absolutely. Effective January 1, 1998, Pinkerton will be a binding arbitration company. This means that if Pinkerton has any claims against its employees, or ex-employees, it must also use binding arbitration under the same terms and conditions in Section II of this brochure.
The brochure stated that arbitrators would apply the same legal rules and would be authorized to award the same remedies as any court. Although the program provided that the company and the employee would split the arbitrator’s fee, Pinkerton agreed to reimburse prevailing employees for their portion of the fee, or pay the entire fee if the law of the forum prohibited splitting the fee. The brochure also suggested that opting out of the program was not possible if the employee wished to remain on the job past the effective date of the policy:
Q. What if I do not want to be covered by this binding arbitration program?
A. Effective January 1, 1998, all employees, including the CEO, are covered by the program. By remaining employed at Pinkerton through the effective date, you are agreeing to be covered by the program and you waive your right to a court trial.
*732 Near the end of the brochure, in a section captioned “Consideration,” was a paragraph restating this answer in more traditional contract language, and providing that the mutual promises by Pinkerton and its employees to submit their claims to arbitration rather than litigation “provide consideration for each other. By remaining employed with Pinkerton through January 1, 1998, you are agreeing to waive your right to have a claim against the Company heard in a court of law.” The brochure was not accompanied by an acknowledgment form. As was stated in the brochure, Pinkerton implemented the arbitration program in January 1998.
Tinder did not recall receiving or seeing the arbitration brochure. Pinkerton produced two affidavits stating that Tinder received the brochure, however. The first affidavit, from Director of Employee Relations Kathy Rasmussen, asserted that Pinkerton’s central office distributed copies of the brochure to each of its district offices with instructions to insert it as a payroll staffer in the envelope along with each employee’s paycheck. According to Rasmussen, Pinkerton sent a memorandum to its district office managers along with the brochures emphasizing the importance of the program and the need to promptly distribute the brochures. Rasmussen went on to aver that Pinkerton’s legal department later issued a second memorandum confirming that the brochure had been distributed to all district offices. In the second affidavit, Mark Cru-ciani, manager of Pinkerton’s district office in Milwaukee, asserted that Tinder was paid through his office; that his office distributed the brochure to all of its employees along with their paychecks on the payday following the date Pinkerton instructed its district offices to circulate the brochure; and that Tinder received her salary by check, not by direct deposit into a bank account.
In May 1998, Pinkerton undertook an internal campaign to remind its employees that the arbitration policy had been implemented. First, Pinkerton featured the program on the cover of the May 1998 issue of its internal monthly magazine, Excellence in Service. The cover story was a one-page article summarizing the reasons why Pinkerton instituted the policy, and reminding employees that the policy was in effect and applied to all employees who continued to work for or joined Pinkerton after January 1, 1998. Pinkerton also distributed a poster for display in all work sites that declared “Arbitration: It’s fair, it’s convenient, and it’s policy.” Finally, Pinkerton distributed a payroll staffer to all of its employees entitled “Settling Disputes Through Arbitration.” The staffer reiterated the terms of the original brochure announcing the program.
In fall 1998, Tinder verbally complained to her supervisor, Bradley Bastain, that she believed she was the victim of gender discrimination on the job. Tinder complained that, unlike her male co-workers, she was required to work overtime, was not promptly paid for her work, and was not reimbursed for her purchase of boots for her uniform. Instead of taking action to remedy Tinder’s complaints, Bastain admonished Tinder that he was tired of hearing her “continual complaints to upper management.” In November 1998, Bas-tain informed Tinder that he was removing her from her assigned post, and warned her that her work hours would be reduced if she continued to complain about her work environment. Tinder alleged that after this, Bastain reduced her pay and refused to accommodate her request to take Sundays off so she could attend religious services. She interpreted these actions as retaliation for complaining about discrimination. Shortly after these events, Tinder quit.
*733 Claiming constructive discharge and retaliation in violation of Title VII, Tinder filed charges with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, received a right-to-sue letter, and timely filed this lawsuit in March 2000. Pinkerton immediately moved to stay proceedings and compel arbitration, asserting that Tinder had agreed by way of a written agreement to arbitrate her claims, and that the agreement constituted an enforceable contract. Tinder denied that the policy was enforceable, arguing that there was no consideration for any agreement by her to forego suing, and that she was unaware of the existence of the policy. The district court agreed with Pinkerton, however, granted the motion to stay, and ordered the parties to arbitrate. The court concluded that Tinder was an at-will employee, and that Pinkerton’s policy was an agreement supported by mutual promises to arbitrate. The court also determined that Tinder’s claim that she had no notice of the policy was untenable in light of Rasmussen’s and Cruciani’s affidavits.
Arbitration concluded in April 2001 with a ruling in Pinkerton’s favor. Pinkerton then moved the district court to confirm the arbitrator’s award. Over Tinder’s objections, the district court confirmed the award and entered judgment in Pinkerton’s favor.
II.
Tinder argues that any agreement she made to submit her claims to arbitration was not supported by valid consideration. She also contends that the district court erred in compelling her to arbitrate because she had no notice of the policy’s implementation; she neither signed any acknowledgment agreeing to be bound nor was she allowed to opt out; the policy was not implemented until after she began employment with the company; and the contract is illusory. We review
de novo
the district court’s decision to compel arbitration based on its finding that an enforceable arbitration agreement existed between the parties.
Gibson v. Neighborhood Health Clinics,
The FAA mandates enforcement of valid, written arbitration agreements. 9 U.S.C. § 2;
Circuit City Stores v. Adams,
*734
Although no reported case in Wisconsin has addressed what constitutes an enforceable agreement to arbitrate, Wisconsin courts treat contracts concerning employment like any other contract.
See Ferraro v. Koelsch,
Tinder points out, however, that Pinkerton unilaterally implemented its arbitration program without input from her or its employees. This, she argues, shows that she never promised to arbitrate her dispute. But Pinkerton’s unilateral decision to implement the program does not demonstrate that Tinder did not agree to be bound. The agreement provided expressly that by remaining employed at Pinkerton after the effective date of the arbitration program Tinder, like all other employees, agreed to submit her claims to arbitration. Wisconsin recognizes that, because at-will employees are free to quit their jobs at any time, at-will employees give adequate consideration for employer promises that modify or supplant the at-will employment relationship by remaining on the job.
See Fen-aro,
Tinder also contends that our decisions in
Gibson
and
Michalski
establish that a promise of continued employment cannot constitute sufficient consideration to support a promise to arbitrate. We disagree. Although
Gibson
was decided under Indiana law and is not helpful in determining the content of Wisconsin law, we recognized that an employer’s promise to continue employing an at-will employee could constitute consideration for an employee’s promise to forego certain rights.
See
In further arguing that there existed no consideration to support her agreement to forego her right to sue, Tinder relies on
NBZ, Inc. v. Pilarski, supra,
Tinder next maintains that she did not receive the brochure announcing Pinkerton’s arbitration program and did not know that the program existed until she sued. In her 'view, because Pinkerton failed to make adequate efforts to ensure that she knew about the program, she never promised to do anything and should have been allowed to proceed to trial on her discrimination claims. Pinkerton argues that Tinder’s claim that she does not recall receiving or seeing the arbitration brochure does not place any facts concerning the agreement at issue. Pinkerton also contends that it submitted sufficient evidence demonstrating that Tinder did in fact receive the brochure. Since Tinder failed to controvert its evidence, Pinkerton asserts that the district court properly discounted Tinder’s claims and ordered arbitration.
A district court must promptly compel arbitration once it is satisfied that the parties agreed to arbitrate. 9 U.S.C. § 4. But if the district court determines that the making of the arbitration agreement is s'eriously disputed, “the court shall proceed summarily to the trial thereof.” Id. The issue then is not whether Tinder’s denial of having received notice of the policy is sufficient to avoid arbitration, but whether she produced sufficient evidence to raise a factual issue concerning whether she and Pinkerton are bound by a contract to arbitrate.
The party opposing arbitration must identify a triable issue of fact concerning the existence of the agreement in order to obtain a trial on the merits of the contract.
Saturday Evening Post Co. v. Rumbleseat Press, Inc.,
In deciding whether the party opposing summary judgment (and by analogy compelled arbitration) has identified a genuine issue of material fact for trial, “the evidence of the non-movant is to be believed and all justifiable inferences are to be drawn in his favor.”
Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.,
Finally, we reject Tinder's remaining arguments. She contends that the arbitration policy is unenforceable because the program did not exist at the time she was hired, but agreements implemented in the course of an at-will employment are enforceable if independently supported by consideration. Michalski,
the FAA requires arbitration agreements to be written, it does not require them to be signed. Valero Refining, Inc. v. MIT Lauberhorn,
III.
Because Tinder continued her at-will employment past the effective date of the arbitration policy, and because Pinkerton agreed to bind itself to the arbitration policy, we conclude that adequate consideration supported Tinder's agreement to arbitrate, and the agreement was enforceable under Wisconsin law. The district court therefore correctly compelled Tinder to submit her Title VII claims to arbitration. The judgment of the district court is
AFFIRMED.