Beware of Hidden Clauses in Employment, Product And Service Contracts
Before you sign …
Americans are unwittingly signing away their rights to hold wrongdoers accountable in a court of law. Read more.
Imagine for a moment buying a car, taking a job or signing up for a credit card, and simultaneously handing over your constitutional right to a trial by jury? It’s called “forced,” “binding” or “mandatory arbitration,” and it happens to millions of Americans every day.
What it means, for example, is that a worker discriminated against on the job can’t sue her employer, the family of a seriously abused and neglected nursing home resident can’t seek justice in court, or an investor defrauded by a corrupt broker can’t demand a public hearing.
Consumer advocates and trial lawyers are fighting back, but we thought
You Should Know
how to spot this unjust practice.
BY THE NUMBERS /
| 81% Object | When presented with all the facts, 81 percent of Americans surveyed in 2008 overwhelmingly disapproved of forced arbitration. Source: Legal Arbitration and the Arbitration Fairness Act, American Association for Justice (download) |
| 30 Million Employers | An estimated 15 to 25 percent of American employers have adopted forced arbitration policies, which means more than 30 million employees (one out of every four nonunion workers) have given up their right to go to court. Source: Employment Arbitration, Fair Arbitration NOW |
| 8 Industries | 75 percent of companies in eight industries – credit card, banking, cell phones, computer manufacturers, cable/Internet providers, auto dealers, brokerages and home builders – routinely invoke mandatory arbitration. Source: Forced Arbitration: Unfair and Everywhere, Public Citizen |
BOOKMARK FAVORITES /
Federal Watchdog Agency Announces Inquiry
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the powerful watchdog agency created by Congress after the Wall Street meltdown, just announced a
public inquiry into arbitration and arbitration clauses.
50-State Campaign Launched Against Unfair Arbitration
The National Association of Consumer Advocates, a nonprofit association of attorneys and consumer advocates, is launching a 50-state campaign to teach consumers how to identify and avoid forced arbitration clauses.
Join the Movement to End Forced Arbitration
Fair Arbitration NOW represents millions of people dedicated to ending the clandestine spread of mandatory arbitration, advocating instead for voluntarily arbitration only after a dispute arises.
Join here.
