Adam Sandler won a California appeals court’s affirmation that ordered his former nanny to repay approximately $80,000 that she received under the confidential settlement agreement in 2010.
Sandler’s HP Production (“HP”) hired Deanne McDonald in 2009 to take care of his kids, and she raised employment claims shortly after her employment ended. HP and McDonald entered into a confidential settlement agreement in 2010 that paid her $48,000 and her attorneys $32,000. In return, McDonald agreed not to disclose anything about the actor and to resolve any future disputes through binding arbitration.
McDonald claimed that the agreement was unfair and not supported by adequate consideration. Additionally, despite the agreement, McDonald in “accus[ing] HP and Sandler of criminal activity, slavery and legal malpractice . . . disclos[ed] confidential information and disparage[ed]” HP, the actor, and his brother Scott Sandler who co-manages HP, according to the court decision. The dispute was brought before an arbitrator who determined McDonald must return $48,000 and pay for HP’s legal cost of more than $33,000. Consequently, the trial court certified the arbitration award which McDonald appealed.
The appeals court found that in confirming the arbitration award, the trial court appropriately refrained from deciding the contractual issues raised McDonald and thus she was preclude from raising those issues on appeal.