The Center for Progressive Reform Releases A Report Revealing That Forced Arbitration Clauses in Corporate Contracts Take Greatest Toll on Historically Marginalized Groups
February 1, 2022, (Washington D.C.) – Forced arbitration is a biased process that allows corporate wrongdoers to not only get away with serious violations of the Nation’s civil rights and employment laws but to also hide that misconduct from the courts and the public eye. It allows serial sexual harassers and abusers to thrive while precluding their victims from obtaining justice. It is well past time for our laws to be amended to prohibit forced arbitration. Today, the Center for Progressive Reform released a report confirming what plaintiff employment attorneys across America already know – forced arbitration clauses favor corporations over workers and consumers because arbitrators have financial motives to rule in favor of corporations, don’t have to follow the rules of evidence, explain their decisions in writing, or apply the law consistently, and they often can’t be overruled by a higher court. Indeed, individuals seldom prevail in forced arbitration, and people of color, women, low-income people and other marginalized groups pay the highest price of contracts that deprive workers and consumers of justice in the courts. Commenting about this report, Helmer Friedman LLP founding partner, Andrew H. Friedman, stated: “Forced arbitration is a biased process that allows corporate wrongdoers to not only get away with serious violations of the Nation’s civil rights and employment laws but to also hide that misconduct from the courts and the public eye. It allows serial sexual harassers and abusers to thrive while precluding their victims from obtaining justice. It is well past time for our laws to be amended to prohibit forced arbitration.”
For a complete copy of this report, visit the website of the Center for Progressive Reform at https://cpr-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/private-courts-biased-outcomes-forced-arbitration-rpt-0222.pdf.