jQuery validate on modal form not working in IE

jQuery validate on modal form not working in IE

I am using jQuery validate on a modal form. It works fine in FF, but not in IE 7/8. I am not getting any error, the form just submits without firing the validation.

I have tried what solutions I could find on the forums but to no avail. Any idea would be appreciated.

Here is my JS code:

jQuery.validator.addMethod("phoneUS", function(phone_number, element) { //custom phoneUS
        phone_number = phone_number.replace(/\s+/g, "");
        return this.optional(element) || phone_number.length > 9 &&
            phone_number.match(/^(1-?)?(\([2-9]\d{2}\)|[2-9]\d{2})-?[2-9]\d{2}-?\d{4}$/);
    }, "Please specify a valid phone number");

$("#htmlform").validate({
  rules: {
    c1FirstName:  {
        required: true
    },
    c1LastName:  {
        required: true
    },
    c2FirstName:  {
        required: true
    },
    c2LastName:  {
        required: true
    },
    c11HomePhone: {
      required: false,
      phoneUS: true
    },
    c13WorkPhone: {
      required: false,
      phoneUS: true
    },
    c12CellPhone: {
      required: false,
      phoneUS: true
    },
    c21HomePhone: {
      required: false,
      phoneUS: true
    },
    c23WorkPhone: {
      required: false,
      phoneUS: true
    },
    c22CellPhone: {
      required: false,
      phoneUS: true
    }

  },
     messages: {
            c1FirstName: " ",
            c1LastName: " ",
            c2FirstName: " ",
            c2LastName: " ",
            c11HomePhone: "Invalid #",
            c12CellPhone: "Invalid #",
            c13WorkPhone: "Invalid #",
            c21HomePhone: "Invalid #",
            c22CellPhone: "Invalid #",
            c23WorkPhone: "Invalid #"
        },
                // specifying a submitHandler prevents the default submit
        submitHandler: function() {
            displayStaticMessage(
            "<div id='contentArea'><strong>Contact Information Saved </strong><div id='closeButton'><input type='image' src='staffdir_files/images/dialog-close.png' onclick='window.location.reload();closeMessage();return false;' alt='Close Dialog'></div></div>"
            );
        }
});



// bind form using ajaxForm -- Allows to be submitted via ajax
$('#htmlform').ajaxForm({
});