Tagged: mandatory arbitration agreement

“Ms. [Debbie] Brenner’s case was conducted in the Phoenix office of Gordon & Rees, one of two big law firms defending Lamson and Delta. The arbitrator, Dennis Negron, was a corporate lawyer and real estate broker who had written papers on how to limit liability because ‘last on your list of desires is to be sued.’ As in most arbitrations, lawyers for both sides chose Mr. Negron from a list provided by an arbitration firm, in this case the American Arbitration Association. Lawyers for Ms. Brenner and four other students grouped into the same arbitration said they anticipated victory because they believed that the evidence was overwhelmingly in their favor. Even the school’s former head of admissions, Jeff Bing, testified that he had been instructed by his superiors at Delta to increase enrollment at all costs. Mr. Bing said it was widely known that the admissions staff, whose compensation was tied to the number of students recruited, was ‘overpromising’ on jobs…To keep the enrollment numbers up, Mr. Bing said, virtually anyone who applied was accepted. He added in an interview that the only qualification was ‘a pulse.’…As administrators were pressured to increase enrollment, instructors were drilled on the importance of student retention — which factored into federal aid disbursements. Penny Philippi and Karen Saliski, two former teachers, said they were directed not to flunk anyone, including a student who skipped classes to ‘chase U.F.O.s.’…During the arbitration proceedings, even a witness for the defense expressed concerns about Lamson. Kelly Harris, who headed the school’s surgical technician program, defended the quality of education offered at Lamson but said the school enrolled too many students…In the end, Mr. Negron ruled in favor of Lamson and Delta…Mr. Negron decided that she and the other students should pay the defense’s $354,210.77 legal bill because of the “hardship” the students had inflicted on Lamson and Delta. ‘I felt like I had been sucker-punched,’ Ms. Brenner said.”

Fuck Negron and the American Arbitration Association!! The AAA needs to be put out of business!!

Source: Michael Corkery and Jessica Silver-Greenberg. “In Arbitration, A ‘Privatization Of The Justice System.'” New York Times. November 1, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/02/business/dealbook/in-arbitration-a-privatization-of-the-justice-system.html.

“Arbitration proved to be devastating to Debbie Brenner of Peoria, Ariz., who believes she did not get a fair shake in her fraud case against a for-profit school chain that nearly left her bankrupt. In a rambling decision against Ms. Brenner that ran to 313 pages, the arbitrator mused on singing lessons, Jell-O and Botox. ‘It was a kangaroo court,’ Ms. Brenner said. ‘I can’t believe this is America.'”

Source: Michael Corkery and Jessica Silver-Greenberg. “In Arbitration, A ‘Privatization Of The Justice System.'” New York Times. November 1, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/02/business/dealbook/in-arbitration-a-privatization-of-the-justice-system.html.

“[C]ourts have observed that between the time an employee signs the [mandatory arbitration agreement] and the time it is invalidated, the MAA undermines Title VII by shielding employers from the full force of its provisions.”

Source: Sidney Charlotte Reynolds. “Closing a Discrimination Loophole: Using Title VII’s Anti-Retaliation Provision to Prevent Employers from Requiring Unlawful Arbitration Agreements as Conditions of Continued Employment.” 76 Wash. L. Rev. 957, 958. (2001).

President Obama issues executive order that “ends corporate immunity” and BANS “corporations who contract with the federal government from having forced arbitration clauses for their employees”!!

“It’s the biggest step forward in civil rights in the United States probably since the 1991 Civil Rights Restoration Act.” — Paul Bland, Executive Director of Public Justice. Some kind of “restoration” if the Act was supposed to strengthen disparate impact theory and allow for jury trials when 23 years later, the Supreme Court has stated that disparate impact theory is possibly “unconstitutional” and employers can have employees of color waive their full statutory rights as a condition of employment. Smh.

Bland also referenced a study conducted by Cornell law professor Alexander Colvin, which concluded that “arbitration outcomes are generally less favorable to employees than those from employment litigation.” It can be read here: http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1586&context=articles.

It’s time for Congress to pass the Arbitration Fairness Act so that no pre-dispute arbitration agreement signed as a condition of employment will be enforceable in a court of law. Employment discrimination cases, especially those involving allegations of racial discrimination, need to be decided in a public forum, with the merits ultimately being determined by an impartial  jury.