Consumer Law

Despite Ledbetter law, we're still screwed

By Kia Franklin

Cross-posted from The Nation:

Screwed by the Fine Print By Kia Franklin February 10, 2009

Despite the new Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, corporations can still get away with employment discrimination and other harmful action through binding mandatory arbitration agreements in which Americans sign away their right to resolve disputes in a court of law. Nestling arbitration clauses in the fine print of credit card agreements, patient consent forms and employment contracts is a deceitful tactic used against an estimated 30 million Americans nationwide. It sends disputes between a person and a corporation to a closed-door, unregulated resolution process hidden from outside view.

Congress and President Obama should provide a much stronger check against corporate power. They can do that by passing The Arbitration Fairness Act (AFA), first introduced in 2007 by Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA). (Keep reading)

Full post as published by TortDeform.com on February 11, 2009 (boomark / email).