Most Of The Top Companies Have Arbitration Clauses, And More Than Half Have Class Action Waivers.
Prof. Imre Szalai, Judge John D. Wessel Distinguished Professor of Social Justice, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, has published an article entitled "The Widespread Use of Workplace Arbitration Among America's Top 100 Companies."
Prof. Szalai summarizes his key findings:
- 80 of the top 100 largest companies in America, including subsidiaries or related affiliates, have used arbitration agreements in connection with workplace-related disputes since 2010.
- Of the 80 companies with arbitration agreements in the workplace, 39 use arbitration clauses containing class waivers.
- Over half of the companies in the Fortune 100 appear to have imposed forced arbitration clauses on workers; such workers did not have a meaningful choice to accept or reject the arbitration clause.
Those conclusions present questions for us: if 80 of the top 100 companies use arbitration agreements in connection with workplace-related disputes, why don't 20 of the companies use arbitration agreements? If 39 of 80 companies use arbitration clauses containing class waivers, why don't 41? And if over half of the companies have imposed forced arbitration clauses on workers, why haven't nearly half not done so? Have the companies that don't rely on arbitration clauses, class action waivers, and binding arbitration made a conscious policy decision, or are they simply behind the curve set by other employers?
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