Tagged: civil justice system

“The sharp shift away from the civil justice system has barely registered with Americans. F. Paul Bland Jr., the executive director of Public Justice, a national consumer advocacy group, attributed this to the tangle of bans placed inside clauses added to contracts that no one reads in the first place. ‘Corporations are allowed to strip people of their constitutional right to go to court,’ Mr. Bland said. ‘Imagine the reaction if you took away people’s Second Amendment right to own a gun.'”

Source: Robert Gebeloff and Jessica Silver-Greenberg. “Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking The Deck Of Justice.” New York Times. October 31, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/business/dealbook/arbitration-everywhere-stacking-the-deck-of-justice.html?_r=0.

“By banning class actions, companies have essentially disabled consumer challenges to practices like predatory lending, wage theft and discrimination, court records show.”

Source: Robert Gebeloff and Jessica Silver-Greenberg. “Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking The Deck Of Justice.” New York Times. October 31, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/business/dealbook/arbitration-everywhere-stacking-the-deck-of-justice.html?_r=0.

“By inserting individual arbitration clauses into a soaring number of consumer and employment contracts, companies like American Express devised a way to circumvent the courts and bar people from joining together in class-action lawsuits, realistically the only tool citizens have to fight illegal or deceitful business practices. Over the last few years, it has become increasingly difficult to apply for a credit card, use a cellphone, get cable or Internet service, or shop online without agreeing to private arbitration. The same applies to getting a job, renting a car or placing a relative in a nursing home.”

Source: Robert Gebeloff and Jessica Silver-Greenberg. “Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking The Deck Of Justice.” New York Times. October 31, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/01/business/dealbook/arbitration-everywhere-stacking-the-deck-of-justice.html?_r=0.