OK, I just had my meeting with my direct manager as well as their direct manager. I was asked what my concerns are in relation to signing away my rights, and I just told them flatly – While I don't have any plans whatsoever on suing the company, I feel that agreements mandating unrepresented arbitration are a show of bad faith on the part of the company. I said that I would sign the agreement, but that I was only signing it under duress as a condition of keeping my employment. The senior manager recognized my keyword “duress” and said that any signing can't be done under duress or it would not be valid. They suggested I setup a meeting with HR to discuss what options I have, noting there are really only 2 choices.
I'm in Idaho, so if that helps with people knowing legal rights state-by-state.
I'm waiting on HR to call me back to setup the meeting, but it was painfully clear that I need to sign the arbitration agreement if I want to keep my job.
I will continue to say it is under duress, but all of the “paperwork” is done online via computers. There is no way to sign with a wrong name, or to add the words “under duress” to the agreement, or otherwise change any of the verbiage in the document.