arbitration-fairness-act
—>Another bank is ending mandatory arbitration for their customers. Not just any bank, either—it's Bank of America! More »
—>The perils of forced arbitration and the need for the Arbitration Fairness Act were recently featured on an NPR piece. The story discusses the case of Jamie Leigh Jones, the former Halliburton employee who was gang raped in Iraq by her coworkers, then was sent to arbitration when she tried to sue her employer. More »
The House Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law is currently holding a hearing on forced arbitration and credit cards, appropriately titled "Federal Arbitration Act: Is the Credit Card Industry Using It To Quash Legal Claims?" Our friends at Public Citizen will be testifying. You can view (or at least listen to) the Real Player stream here. More »
—>Besides banning forced arbitration in consumer and franchise contracts, the Arbitration Fairness Act bans mandatory binding arbitration clauses in employment contracts. John's story illustrates why this is necessary, inside. More »
—>Meet Michelle. We met Michelle at Arbitration Fairness Day and she told us about being forced into arbitration when she tried to get her poorly constructed home repaired. Now she'd like to share her story with you. More »
—>Mandatory binding arbitration, which corporations use to dodge accountability for their discrimination, negligence, or harassment, is a caricature of justice that offers no protection to consumers or employees. It's also terrible for small business owners, as one couple found out. More »
—>The Arbitration Fairness Act, which will ban binding mandatory arbitration clauses from consumer, employment, and franchise contracts, was reintroduced in the House yesterday. More »
—>BusinessWeek has published a pretty substantial cover story on arbitration, and why it disadvantages consumers. Consumerist readers will be familiar with many of the story's criticisms: one study finds 99.8% of arbitration cases are decided in the corporation's favor, some arbitration firms market themselves to companies as a sympathetic and partial judge, the arbitration process is intentionally structured to handicap consumers, and more. More »
—>According to science, even the President is more popular than mandatory binding arbitration. A recent poll shows that Americans hate everything about the extrajudicial resolution system, from its inescapable omnipresence, to its unappealable decisions that rob consumers of their day in court. The poll provides a refreshing contrast to a different study commissioned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which found that Americans love mandatory binding arbitration more than pie. More »
—>Arbitration is even worse than we thought. We already knew that consumers lost 94% of the extra-judicial proceedings, but new data shows that the few who manage prevail are likely to have their wins overturned on appeal. More »
The 8-1 decision came in a lawsuit by Alex E. Ferrer, a former Florida Circuit Court judge who decides minor civil disputes as a form of TV entertainment. More »
—>Join us at 9:30 as we liveblog the Arbitration Fairness Act's second hearing before Congress. Arbitration is an extrajudicial jury-free way to resolve disputes where decisions are handed down by arbitrators who rule against consumers in 98.4% of cases. The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution will be considering S. 1782, an Act to banish mandatory binding arbitration from consumer disputes. More »
The Arbitration Fairness Act is set to take a giant leap forward this Thursday. Rep. Henry Johnson (D-GA), sponsor of the House version, H.R. 3010, has convinced the chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law to hold a hearing. [House Judiciary Committee] More »
No predispute arbitration agreement shall be valid or enforceable if it requires arbitration of...a consumer dispute.
