50 result(s) found for arbitration
You Might Be Able to Avoid Forced Arbitration, Even in 2014
…he non-binding arbitration permitted by the Steak ‘n Shake policy was not “arbitration” under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). Id. Steak ‘n Shake appealed, arguing that the agreement to arbitrate was not illusory, that the policy could be applied to suits pending at the time of adoption, and that non-binding arbitration falls within the FAA’s definition of arbitration. The appellate court applied Indiana law to determine whether there was an a…
A Step in the Right Direction: The Proposed CFPB Rule Changes
…; and storefront payday loan contracts (83.7%). And between 85% to 100% of arbitration agreements reviewed precluded arbitration of claims on a class basis. The Proposed Regulation: The proposed regulation has two main prongs: (1) class action provisions; and (2) provisions relating to the submission of arbitration documents to the CFPB. 1. Class Action Provisions With regard to the class action provisions, the CFPB proposes to bar a large variety…
CFPB Study Confirms Arbitration Clauses Do Not Benefit Consumers
…rs: Forced arbitration does not benefit the consumer. Proponents of forced arbitration like to say that arbitration is fair and even beneficial to consumers, however, the CFPB’s research concluded the following: Arbitration agreements affect a large number of consumers – for instance, as much as half of all credit card debt and checking account deposits are subject to arbitration agreements. Three out of four consumers surveyed did not know if the…
Supreme Court Rules in Oxford Health Plans Case
…at interpreted an arbitration provision with no express reference to class arbitration to permit class arbitration, was subject to vacatur under Section 10(a)(4) of the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). For a unanimous Court, Justice Kagan wrote that the arbitrator’s interpretation could not be vacated. The underlying claims had been filed as a class action in New Jersey state court. The complaint alleged that Defendant Oxford Health Plans, LLC had…
Trix Aren’t Just for Kids: How Companies Want to Take Away Your Right to a Jury Trial
… negligent in one arbitration—that wouldn’t matter for your own individual arbitration—because the “arbitration [would] be confidential, and neither you nor General Mills [could] disclose the existence, content, or results of any arbitration. . . .” So what does General Mills mean when it says that arbitration is “cost-effective”? Essentially, it would have to spend less to defend lawsuits (ranging from the negligence hypothetical I discussed abov…
Hope Springs Eternal: Senators Franken and Blumenthal and Representative Johnson Combat AT&T v. Concepcion
…rom the company, cable TV for example, they are deemed to be “agreeing” to arbitration, a factual and legal fiction if there ever was one. Second, arbitration often times requires plaintiffs to travel to a forum selected by the corporation, which may not only be inconvenient for the plaintiff, but also prohibitively expensive to get to. See, e.g., Nascone v. Spudnuts, Inc., 735 F.2d 763, 765 (3d Cir. 1984) (holding that the language “venue for any…
Sixth Circuit Reviews Classwide Arbitration
…ed: Crockett’s remaining argument is that, if read not to permit classwide arbitration, the arbitration clause is unconscionable. The clause is indeed as one-sided as Crockett says: the clause favors LexisNexis at every turn, and as a practical matter makes it economically unfeasible for Crockett or any other customer to assert the individual claims that Crockett seeks to assert here. The clause provides that any arbitration of any dispute concern…
Your Seventh Amendment Rights Are Under Attack: What Are You Going to do About it?
…ecent attack on consumers’ rights is found in the enforcement of mandatory arbitration clauses. These non-negotiated mandatory arbitration clauses, buried in consumer contracts, strip consumers of the ability to hold corporations accountable for acts that do not just impact the individual consumer, but impact all consumers. As such, they prevent the legal system from ever reaching the heart of the problem – and they prevent consumers from being ab…
Fourth Circuit Affirms Confirmation of Arbitration Determination
…the District of Maryland, but the claims were dismissed because of a broad arbitration provision in an underlying agreement requiring arbitration of “[a]ny dispute between [the parties] that cannot be amicably resolved, and all claims or controversies arising out of this Agreement, shall be settled solely and exclusively by binding arbitration in the City of Columbia, Maryland. . . .” Interestingly, the arbitration provision also stated, “it being…
CFPB Takes on Mandatory Arbitration Clauses
…are brought by financial services companies against consumers in arbitration; How consumers and companies are affected by actual arbitrations; and How consumers and companies are affected by arbitration clauses outside of actual arbitrations. The CFPB’s questionnaire can be found here. Comments regarding this study must be submitted by June 23. …
Disappearing Cases
…he answer largely appears to be no: consumer cases are simply not going to arbitration in any appreciable numbers. Take the American Arbitration Association and its consumer docket. The AAA is named sole arbitrator in hundreds of millions of consumer contracts. (AT&T Mobility alone has over 60 million customers and requires its customers to take significant disputes to the AAA. Numerous other corporations with AAA clauses have tens of millions of …
Arbitration Clauses: Coming Soon to an Online Customer Service Agreement Near You
…cluded at least one of the clauses.” We’ve covered these mandatory binding arbitration clauses many times on this blog. As a refresher, arbitration clauses are provisions in customer agreements that limit a customer’s ability to sue in court or as part of a class action. Instead, consumers must bring their claims individually to an arbitrator. Several reports have found that this alternative to the courts is inherently biased against consumers. Wh…
Second Circuit Reaffirms Refusal to Enforce Class Action Waiver
…eme Court concluded that “‘a party may not be compelled under the [Federal Arbitration Act] to submit to class arbitration unless there is a contractual basis for concluding that the party agreed to do so.’” On remand, the Second Circuit found that Stolt-Nielsen did not require it to depart from its original analysis. Accordingly, the Second Circuit again reversed the district court’s decision and remanded for further proceedings. The Second Circu…
A Breakthrough Ruling on Employment Arbitration
…loyer cannot ask its employees to waive those protections in an employment arbitration provision. By operation of Epic’s arbitration provision, once the trial court ruled that the class action waiver was unenforceable, then the trial court was required to deny Epic’s motion to compel arbitration. The Seventh Circuit also held that the Federal Arbitration Act[3] did not save Epic’s otherwise-unenforceable arbitration provision. Lewis’ class claims …
Utter Lunacy: Supreme Court strips individuals of their right to vindicate their claims in court, and Congress is in no hurry to un-do the damage
…which effectively prevents any individual from pursuing any claims—even in arbitration.[4] What the FAA prefers to litigation is arbitration, not de facto immunity. The effective-vindication rule furthers the statute’s goals by ensuring that arbitration remains a real, not faux, method of dispute resolution. With the rule, companies have good reason to adopt arbitral procedures that facilitate efficient and accurate handling of complaints. Without…
Another One Bites the Dust: Dropbox Adds Arbitration Clause
…at it was updating its terms of service to include, among other things, an arbitration clause. The company claimed in its announcement that: “Arbitration is a faster and more efficient way to resolve legal disputes, and it provides a good alternative to things like state or federal courts, where the process could take months or even years.” If you have visited this blog before, it should come as no surprise that we disagree with this statement. Re…
The Wall Street Journal: Big Companies Are the Victim Because Consumers Want to Enforce their Rights.
… to a far-away place to arbitrate their individual claim and pay their own arbitration costs, or that most arbitration awards are confidential – and have absolutely no precedential value guiding the company’s future conduct. But what makes arbitration so unfair is that it essentially allows individuals and companies to evade liability if they successfully defraud each and every one of their customers for a relatively small amount individually, but…
Two Minutes for Discrimination: The Newest Penalty for Federally-Contracted Companies
…linois have stated, “there is a strong public policy in favor of enforcing arbitration agreements.”[1] But instead of being the cost-effective process arbitration was intended to be, many large corporations have used it as a quick and dirty means to keep the employee out of court and the corporation name out of headlines. Additionally, it is more likely that the employee will lose his or her case or settle for less in private, forced arbitration t…
How the #MeToo Movement is Breaking the Silence on Arbitration Clauses
… individuals to waive their right to sue in court. Instead, those bound by arbitration clauses are forced into private arbitration, a closed-door quasi-legal forum that disproportionately favors employers and corporations. There’s no judge, no jury, and no accountability in the public eye. But thanks to the #MeToo movement, this legal tactic that has shielded countless powerful individuals is finally beginning to crack. Bill AB 3080, introduced in…
Roger Ailes and the Secrecy of Arbitration
… interest in criminal and civil accountability. A transparent and public justice system is a fundamental part of our society. The New York Times article highlights another way in which compulsory arbitration is antithetical to the American justice system—arbitration shrouded in secrecy takes public accountability out of the equation. Photo Credit: RoguePlanet …