Arbitration

<p>=</p><p>promoted to primary on tort reform win:</p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">game over tipping pt?! rbg v gorsuch</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2018/5/23/supreme_court_deals_blow_to_workers">https://www.democracynow.org/2018/5/23/supreme_court_deals_blow_to_workers</a></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><span style="letter-spacing: -0.2px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>a major blow to workers’ rights, the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 Monday that employers can use arbitration clauses to prohibit workers from banding together to challenge violations of federal labor laws in class-action lawsuits. </b>Arbitration is often confidential. Many workers may agree to mandatory arbitration clauses without even being aware of it when they sign a contract with their employer. In a rare show of public displeasure, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg read her dissent from the bench, calling the majority opinion “egregiously wrong” and saying, “The court today holds enforceable these arm-twisted, take-it-or-leave-it contracts—including the provisions requiring employees to litigate wage and hours claims only one-by-one. Federal labor law does not countenance such isolation of employees.” For more, we speak with Terri Gerstein, former labor bureau chief for the New York State Attorney General’s Office</font></span></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/scientology-supreme-court-internal-arbitration/">https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/scientology-supreme-court-internal-arbitration/</a></font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><h3 style="margin: 0px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1; text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 1px 1px 0px; background-color: rgb(205, 228, 248);"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Letter to the Honorable Richard Cordray, Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - Waters, Conyers, Johnson Lead Over 60 House Democrats in Letter Supporting CFPB Arbitration Proposal</font></span></h3><div class="clearfix prepend-3" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 120px; border: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="span-16" style="background-color: rgb(205, 228, 248); margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; width: 630px;"><h4 style="margin: 0px 0px 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.25;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Letter</font></h4><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><strong>By:</strong>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/21899/zoe-lofgren" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Zoe Lofgren</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/26851/pete-visclosky" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Pete Visclosky</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/775/eleanor-norton" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Eleanor Norton</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/16469/alan-lowenthal" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Alan Lowenthal</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/26980/jerry-nadler" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Jerry Nadler</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/26975/nydia-velazquez" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Nydia Velázquez</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/18883/mike-capuano" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Mike Capuano</span></a><a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/28963/karen-bass" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Karen Bass</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/2519/bob-brady" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Bob Brady</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/27117/bobby-scott" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Bobby Scott</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/45638/tim-ryan" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Tim Ryan</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/3457/gwen-moore" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Gwen Moore</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/1707/don-beyer-jr" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Don Beyer, Jr.</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/29664/john-garamendi" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">John Garamendi</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/233/danny-davis" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Danny Davis</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/67151/ted-deutch" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Ted Deutch</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/24340/steve-cohen" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Steve Cohen</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/38982/keith-ellison" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Keith Ellison</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/101632/bill-foster" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Bill Foster</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/4403/paul-tonko" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Paul Tonko</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/24799/bonnie-watson-coleman" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Bonnie Watson Coleman</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/39507/emanuel-cleaver-ii" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Emanuel Cleaver II</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/21692/sheila-jackson-lee" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Sheila Jackson Lee</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/26981/jose-serrano" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">José Serrano</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/26978/carolyn-maloney" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Carolyn Maloney</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/345/elijah-cummings" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Elijah Cummings</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/26841/luis-gutierrez" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Luis Gutiérrez</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/22337/mark-takano" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Mark Takano</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/55285/hakeem-jeffries" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Hakeem Jeffries</span></a><a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/8315/barbara-lee" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Barbara Lee</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/4844/stephen-lynch" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Stephen Lynch</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/84917/andre-carson" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">André Carson</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/59849/jared-huffman" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Jared Huffman</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/24301/debbie-wasserman-schultz" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Debbie Wasserman Schultz</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/59641/suzanne-bonamici" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Suzanne Bonamici</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/2653/ed-perlmutter" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Ed Perlmutter</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/552/jim-mcgovern" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Jim McGovern</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/129529/eric-swalwell" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Eric Swalwell</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/136102/dan-kildee" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Dan Kildee</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/367/earl-blumenauer" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Earl Blumenauer</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/129306/tulsi-gabbard" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Tulsi Gabbard</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/49680/al-green" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Al Green</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/126058/denny-heck" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Denny Heck</span></a><a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/561/diana-degette" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Diana DeGette</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/26904/john-conyers-jr" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">John Conyers, Jr.</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/8102/lois-frankel" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Lois Frankel</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/26759/maxine-waters" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Maxine Waters</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/51272/peter-welch" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Peter Welch</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/9674/mike-honda" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Mike Honda</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/68070/hank-johnson-jr" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Hank Johnson, Jr.</span></a><a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/8967/lacy-clay-jr" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Lacy Clay, Jr.</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/291/ruben-hinojosa-sr" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Rubén Hinojosa, Sr.</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/121621/terri-sewell" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Terri Sewell</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/4360/gregory-meeks" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Gregory Meeks</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/137652/patrick-murphy" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Patrick Murphy</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/28253/raul-grijalva" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Raul Grijalva</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/126272/suzan-delbene" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Suzan DelBene</span></a><a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/90668/don-payne-jr" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Don Payne, Jr.</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/35384/cedric-richmond" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Cedric Richmond</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/7349/david-cicilline" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">David Cicilline</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/142/brad-sherman" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Brad Sherman</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/136236/matt-cartwright" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Matt Cartwright</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/16539/judy-chu" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Judy Chu</span></a>&nbsp;<a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/6387/jan-schakowsky" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Jan Schakowsky</span></a><a itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" href="https://votesmart.org/candidate/public-statements/95078/gerry-connolly" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Gerry Connolly</span></a>&nbsp;
<strong>Date:</strong>&nbsp;<span itemprop="datePublished" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Aug. 3, 2016</span>&nbsp;
<strong>Location:</strong>&nbsp;<span itemprop="contentLocation" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Washington, DC</span>&nbsp;

Keyword Search :&nbsp;<span itemprop="keywords" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="highlight" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 0);">Corporation</span></span></font></div><div class="span-20" itemprop="articleBody" style="margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; width: 790px;"><p style="background-color: rgb(205, 228, 248); font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We write in strong support of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's proposed rule to prohibit the use of class-action waivers in forced arbitration agreements for financial services and products, and to increase transparency in the arbitration process. Consistent with the Bureau's exhaustive study on forced arbitration, which found that forced arbitration restricts consumers' access to relief in disputes with financial service providers by limiting class actions, the proposed rule is a critical step to protect the public interest by ensuring that consumers receive redress for systemic unlawful conduct.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(205, 228, 248); margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: inherit;">There is overwhelming evidence that class-action waivers in financial products and services agreements undermine the public interest. Originally used primarily in commercial settings, forced arbitration clauses have proliferated in everyday consumer contracts, and are now prevalent in financial services agreements.</span><b>&nbsp;By restricting class actions and class-wide arbitration in consumer contracts, these clauses enable&nbsp;<span class="highlight" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 0);">corporation</span>s to avoid public scrutiny by precluding access to the courts</b><span style="font-weight: inherit;">. This is particularly problematic for small, diffuse misconduct that harms innumerous consumers. As the Bureau's research has shown, consumers rarely use arbitration to recover small claims, such as those associated with overdraft fees, because these cases are either too costly for consumers to pursue on an individual basis, or the individual consumer is unaware of a&nbsp;</span><span class="highlight" style="font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 0);">corporation</span><span style="font-weight: inherit;">'s misconduct.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(205, 228, 248); margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: inherit;">The proposed rule is in the public interest and will protect consumers. As you know, Congress expressly granted authority to the Bureau to research the impact of forced arbitration clauses in financial products and services, and based on this evidence, to promulgate a rule to prohibit or impose conditions on the use of forced arbitration if the Bureau finds that it would be "in the public interest and for the protection of consumers." There is little doubt that the Bureau's proposed rule will serve these twin goals. As more than 200 of the nation's leading law professors and scholars have observed, "class actions can serve as a powerful tool to help consumers of financial services and products vindicate their rights under federal and state law." The Bureau's study confirms this conclusion, finding that in addition to providing consumers with financial remedies for unlawful, predatory, or fraudulent conduct, class action settlements also included behavioral relief for consumers through corporate commitments to alter fraudulent practices that gave rise to the claim. On an individual basis, these forms of relief would have been largely unavailable or greatly diminished. The Attorneys General from 16 states likewise note that the "need for regulations to protect the public interest has never been so great," observing that forced arbitration has predictably resulted in consumer harm and "a systemic failure to hold accountable those companies who abuse the trust placed in them by consumers." In discrimination cases, individual consumers may not even be aware that they were harmed by a&nbsp;</span><span class="highlight" style="font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 0);">corporation</span><span style="font-weight: inherit;">'s unlawful conduct.&nbsp;</span><b>As the Center for Justice and Democracy has found, class actions are uniquely capable of holding&nbsp;<span class="highlight" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 0);">corporation</span>s accountable for civil rights violations for these claims.</b></font></p><p style="font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(205, 228, 248);">We strongly believe that your comprehensive study on forced arbitration unequivocally demonstrates that the proposed rule is necessary to the public interest and consumer welfare.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;Congress has already acted to ban forced arbitration clauses in residential mortgages and in financial products offered to servicemembers and veterans.&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(205, 228, 248);">We have entrusted the Bureau with authority to extend these protections to the rest of the financial services marketplace. Accordingly, we encourage you to proceed quickly to ensure that consumers have equal protection under the law.</span></font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(205, 228, 248); font-weight: inherit;">
Source:&nbsp;<a itemprop="url" href="http://democrats.financialservices.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399950" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; outline: 0px;">http://democrats.financialservices.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399950</a></font></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">---</span></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">aha 4/19 related end-runs around law: terms of service, eula</font></p><p>

5/18 uber rideshare caves on sex assault

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">===</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">BINDING arbitration often snuck into contracts, warranty etc any fine print gobblygook legal doc</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">like tort reform, seeks to deprive ppl of courts</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">each person has to face co alone, and NO RECORD so basically gag order NDA</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">===</font>

<a href="https://kpfa.org/episode/the-ralph-nader-radio-hour-october-30-2017/"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">https://kpfa.org/episode/the-ralph-nader-radio-hour-october-30-2017/</font></a>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">==</font>

<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/10/cfpb-mandatory-arbitration/543918/"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/10/cfpb-mandatory-arbitration/543918/</font></a>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">==</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">big win gop:&nbsp; pence tie break</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a id="ORGOV0000134" title="U.S. Senate" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/government/u.s.-senate-ORGOV0000134-topic.html" style=" text-decoration-line: none;">Senate</a>&nbsp;voted Tuesday night to kill a controversial rule that would have allowed Americans to file class-action suits against banks instead of being forced in many cases into private arbitration.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The move by the Senate followed a similar action by the House in July to rescind the rule.&nbsp;<a id="PEBSL000163" title="Donald Trump" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/donald-trump-PEBSL000163-topic.html" style=" text-decoration-line: none;">President Trump</a>&nbsp;is expected to sign the repeal legislation, providing a major victory for the financial industry.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Vice President&nbsp;<a id="PEPLT005131" title="Mike Pence" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/mike-pence-PEPLT005131-topic.html" style=" text-decoration-line: none;">Mike Pence</a>&nbsp;cast the deciding vote after the Senate tied 50-50. All but two&nbsp;<a id="ORGOV0000004" title="Republican Party" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/republican-party-ORGOV0000004-topic.html" style=" text-decoration-line: none;">Republicans</a>&nbsp;— John Kennedy of Louisiana and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — voted to repeal the rule. No&nbsp;<a id="ORGOV0000005" title="Democratic Party" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/democratic-party-ORGOV0000005-topic.html" style=" text-decoration-line: none;">Democrats</a>&nbsp;or independents supported the move.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The White House said Trump “applauds” Congress for voting to repeal the rule, which would have given consumers “fewer options for quickly and efficiently resolving financial disputes.”</font></p>

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<p style=" clear: both; margin-bottom: 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The rule was&nbsp;<a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cfpb-arbitration-20170710-story.html" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration-line: none;">unveiled</a>&nbsp;in July by the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/business/u.s.-consumer-financial-protection-bureau-ORGOV00000233-topic.html" id="ORGOV00000233" title="U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau" style=" text-decoration-line: none;">Consumer Financial Protection Bureau</a>&nbsp;and praised by Democrats and consumer advocates as giving average people more power to fight industry abuses, such as&nbsp;<a id="ORCRP016609" title="Wells Fargo" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/business/financial-business-services/wells-fargo-ORCRP016609-topic.html" style=" text-decoration-line: none;">Wells Fargo</a>&nbsp;& Co.’s creation of millions of unauthorized accounts.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But banking lobbyists argued that the rule would unleash a flood of class-action lawsuits, and that the cost of fighting those suits would be passed on to consumers. Republicans quickly moved to repeal the regulation.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The entire purpose of this rule is to promote class-action litigation and stop arbitration resolution when there is a dispute,” said Sen.&nbsp;<a id="PEPLT001375" title="Mike Crapo" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/government/mike-crapo-PEPLT001375-topic.html" style=" text-decoration-line: none;">Mike Crapo</a>&nbsp;(R-Idaho).</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The U.S. Chamber of Commerce praised the repeal vote, saying the rule “would have benefited the class-action trial bar at the expense of American consumers and businesses alike.”</font></p>

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<p style=" clear: both; margin-bottom: 18px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 27px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Set to take effect in March, the rule would not have banned clauses in checking account, credit card and other banking agreements that say disputes between companies and customers must be dealt with privately or in small claims court.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Instead, there would have been a ban on provisions that block consumers from banding together to bring class-action cases. The CFPB argued that such cases help hold banks accountable.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The determinations of an arbitrator are binding and consumer advocates say most decisions favor the company. The private proceedings also allow banks to deal with individual problems quietly rather than address widespread abuses.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bureau Director&nbsp;<a id="PEPLT00008731" title="Richard Cordray" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics-government/government/richard-cordray-PEPLT00008731-topic.html" style=" text-decoration-line: none;">Richard Cordray</a>&nbsp;called the Senate vote “a giant setback for every consumer in this country” and urged Trump to veto the repeal legislation.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It robs consumers of their most effective legal tool against corporate wrongdoing,” Cordray said. “As a result, companies like Wells Fargo and&nbsp;<a id="ORCRP005319" title="Equifax" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/business/equifax-ORCRP005319-topic.html" style=" text-decoration-line: none;">Equifax</a>&nbsp;remain free to break the law without fear of legal blowback from their customers.”</font>

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<a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:c1mIBkYutG8J:www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-arbitration-regulators-20170718-story.html+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" color="#000000">hmn verify:</font></a>

<a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:c1mIBkYutG8J:www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-arbitration-regulators-20170718-story.html+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">The CFPB is about to end “binding arbitration,” which forces people who have been cheated by their bank to go to “arbitration." Arbitration is a secret proceeding, paid for by the bank. Needless to say, the bank almost always wins. Congress, financial lobbiests and Trump administration want to keep it that way.</font></a>

<a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:c1mIBkYutG8J:www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-arbitration-regulators-20170718-story.html+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1500253492907_43512" style=" -webkit-padding-start: 0px; font-weight: 700;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Elizabeth Warren released a statement on Monday:</font></span></a>

<a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:c1mIBkYutG8J:www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-arbitration-regulators-20170718-story.html+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">“This CFPB rule will allow working families to hold big banks accountable when they're cheated and help discourage the kinds of surprise fees that consumers hate.”</font></a>

<a class="fl" href="http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:c1mIBkYutG8J:www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-arbitration-regulators-20170718-story.html+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style=" text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" color="#000000">=

</font></a><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/davidhalperin/">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/davidhalperin/</a>

for-profit colleges</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">includes arbitration

==</font>

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</font>&nbsp;

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/davidhalperin/declaring-corinthian-coll_b_6342124.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/davidhalperin/declaring-corinthian-coll_b_6342124.html</a>

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<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">First, ECMC has insisted on — and the Department of Education has not rejected — requiring students when they&nbsp;enroll to waive any right to pursue disputes in court; instead they must resolve matters through private arbitration. Such mandatory arbitration agreements, which strongly favor companies over individuals, are common when it comes to anti-consumer business&nbsp;like the credit card industry and — of course — the for-profit college industry. &nbsp;The Department could, and should, demand that all recipients of federal student aid, including for-profit colleges, allow students who have been lied to, assaulted, or otherwise harmed by the institution, the option of a day in court.&nbsp; Instead, with this agreement, the Department appears to be moving in the opposite direction, acquiescing in ECMC forcing harmed students into arbitration, even though it plans to run its school system as a non-profit;&nbsp;few, if any, non-profit colleges currently use&nbsp;mandatory&nbsp;arbitration clauses.&nbsp;Denying students such basic legal rights shields a college from accountability for treating its students fairly. ECMC executives’ insistence on arbitration may be&nbsp;revealing of how they really would operate the schools, however well-intentioned and public-spirited they believe they are now. And the Department of Education’s apparent acceptance of that position is another sign of its desperation to have someone take over these campuses before they fold — regardless of the harms and dangerous precedents.</font></p>

<div align="left"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Second, the agreement builds in an extraordinary conflict of interest for the Department of Education.</font></div>

<p align="left"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">==

</font>&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.alternet.org/comics/alternet-comics-jen-sorensen-those-corporate-friendly-contracts"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">http://www.alternet.org/comics/alternet-comics-jen-sorensen-those-corporate-friendly-contracts</font></a>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">==</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">6/15</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><br style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<a href="http://qz.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=LK7O65d9xpQWmbhHQasPG1r3r7HURkDG" target="_blank" style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Tell your members of Congress to co-sponsor the CLASS Act (S. 1122, H.R. 2079) and the Arbitration Fairness Act (S. 1133, H.R. 2087).</a><br style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<br style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the Senate sponsor of the CLASS (Court Legal Access & Student Support) Act, called out ITT’s CEO for his glaring hypocrisy.</span><br style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<br style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“You complain of ‘litigation roadblocks’ that your company is facing, yet ITT Tech subjects its students to the biggest litigation roadblock of them all: forced arbitration,” the senator wrote in a letter.</span><br style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<br style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Oddly enough, ITT’s CEO responded to Durbin and suggested that lawmakers should work on a bill to limit the use of arbitration clauses in higher education.</span><br style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<br style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<b style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Great idea! The CEO was unaware that Durbin had, one month earlier, introduced the CLASS Act, which would remove forced arbitration clauses and class-action bans from college enrollment contracts so that defrauded students can bring their cases to court.</b><br style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<br style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Durbin also co-sponsored the Arbitration Fairness Act, which was introduced by Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and would eliminate forced arbitration from ALL consumer and employment terms — and allow consumers and employees to choose how to resolve disputes after they arise, whether in court or via arbitration, individually or as part of a group.</span><br style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

</font>&nbsp;

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<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">chamberwatch</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Generally, plaintiffs’ attorneys represent consumers and workers to help them seek compensation in court for injuries caused by alleged corporate wrongdoing. In the late </span><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style=" line-height: 18px;">1990s, the Chamber launched a well-financed campaign to&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/stories/1998-03-01/chamber-of-commerce-battle-cry-kill-all-the-lawyers" target="_blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">malign plaintiffs’ attorneys</a><span style=" line-height: 18px;">&nbsp;as part of a wider crusade to implement national and international policies that <b>shield corporations from lawsuits.</b>&nbsp;</span></span><br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In 1998, the Chamber founded the <b>Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), </b>now the largest sub-group within the Chamber.&nbsp;</span><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">More than half of the $44 million the ILR raised in 2012 came from just 21 large donors, with an&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressroomredirect.cfm?ID=4080" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">average donation of more than $450,000</a><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. The Chamber does its anti-consumer work&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.instituteforlegalreform.com/uploads/sites/1/2013_12.11_CFPB-arbitration_cover_letter.pdf" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">through the ILR</a><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;and through its&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.instituteforlegalreform.com/issues/arbitration" target="_blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><b><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Coalition to Preserve</span><span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Arbitration</span></b></a><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>, led by AT&T and comprising trade associations in finance, insurance, car sales and other industries</b>&nbsp;where contracts are complicated and companies often have an advantage in information and expertise.&nbsp;</span><br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">One of the ILR’s apparent goals is to further entrench the use of<b> pre-dispute binding&nbsp;</b></span><a href="http://www.instituteforlegalreform.com/uploads/sites/1/2013_12.11_CFPB-arbitration_cover_letter.pdf" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>arbitration</b></a><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>&nbsp;clauses </b>in corporate contracts with consumers and employees. The clauses deny individuals’ right their day in court and require them instead to resolve disputes with corporations in private arbitration proceedings. The ILR funds research that attempts to support the claim that consumers do better in arbitration than in the courts, but more credible research shows that&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.citizen.org/publications/publicationredirect.cfm?ID=7545" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">consumers&nbsp;</a><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">and&nbsp;</span><a href="http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1586&context=articles" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">employees</a><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">are less successful&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.citizen.org/congress/article_redirect.cfm?ID=7332" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">in arbitration</a><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;than in the courts.&nbsp;The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has found that&nbsp;</span><a href="http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2013/12/consumer-agency-finds-arbitration-agreements-unpopular-confusing.html" target="_blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">arbitration</a><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;clauses are prevalent in financial services contracts and that very few consumers use arbitration to resolve financial disputes. Arbitration is an unpopular choice for consumers because it tends to create an unbalanced playing field that favors corporations.&nbsp;</span><br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Arbitration clauses in consumer contracts frequently forbid consumers from participating in class actions against the company. As a result, consumer disputes with companies can be arbitrated only on an individual basis, a method that is often impractical because the individual amount at stake is often small, even where the corporation’s total benefit from the challenged conduct is significant. That means consumers are increasingly unable to challenge wrongful corporate conduct. And if consumers can’t seek redress, companies do not have to answer for predatory or illegal practices.&nbsp;</span><br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The ILR also works to place articles on “cases and actions that portend to have an impact on business” in widely read publications through its media outfit,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://legalnewsline.com/about" target="_blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">the Legal Newsline</a><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, founded in 2006.&nbsp;</span><br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<span style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style=" line-height: 18px;">Further<b>,&nbsp;39 states elect their high court judges,</b>&nbsp;and from 2001 to 2003, for example,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2012/08/pdf/statecourts.pdf" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">the candidate backed by the Chamber won 21 of 24 judicial elections</a><span style=" line-height: 18px;">. In 2004,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://prospect.org/article/under-influence" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">the Chamber-backed candidate won 12 of 13 state Supreme Court races</a><span style=" line-height: 18px;">.&nbsp;</span></span><br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Chamber gives financial support to the campaigns of state judges it views as aligned with its interests and attacks judges that it views as opposed to its priorities. Business groups spent about&nbsp;</span><a href="http://prospect.org/article/under-influence" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">$26.2 million</a><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;in races between 2000 and 2009, and the Chamber was a major player. In 2000, for example, the Mississippi chief justice, whom the Chamber supported but who was concerned about out-of-state influence on the state elections,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/06/13/12793/dc-based-groups-bombarded-state-high-court-races-ads" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">asked the Chamber to stop running ads for her</a><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;— but the Chamber ignored her request.&nbsp;</span><br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Chamber-identified ads disappeared in the 2002 Mississippi election season, but similar ads were run by the Law Enforcement Alliance of America (LEAA). The LEAA’s donors are secret, but Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz suspected the Chamber was still at work,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/06/13/12793/dc-based-groups-bombarded-state-high-court-races-ads" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">saying</a><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, “The ads that the U.S. Chamber ran against me in 2000 were extremely similar [to the ones] that the LEAA ran against me in 2008.” The Chamber&nbsp;</span><a href="http://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/CampaignCriminalCash-6.pdf" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">had run highly negative ads</a><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, including accusing Justice Diaz of “voting for drug dealers and baby killers.”&nbsp;</span><br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

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<span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“Judges who are running for reelection do keep in mind what the next 30-second ad is going to look like,”&nbsp;</span><a href="http://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/CampaignCriminalCash-6.pdf" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Justice Diaz said</a><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.&nbsp;</span><a href="http://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/CampaignCriminalCash-6.pdf" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A 2013 report</a><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;by the Center for American Progress found that as campaign cash in judicial elections has increased, courts have begun to rule more often in favor of prosecutors and against criminal defendants.&nbsp;</span><br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Fewer numbers are available now than when the wave of spending began around 2000. The Chamber’s state high court spending is&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/06/13/12793/dc-based-groups-bombarded-state-high-court-races-ads" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">becoming increasingly difficult to trace</a><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, as observers, including former state supreme court justices, believe it has turned increasingly to spending money through opaque third-party organizations like the LEAA. Additionally,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/06/13/12793/dc-based-groups-bombarded-state-high-court-races-ads" target="blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">as the Center for Public Integrity notes</a><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, “Tracking all outside spending is nearly impossible thanks to lax state disclosure rules, as well as a loophole in the federal tax code that allows politically active nonprofits to run attack ads without disclosing who funds them.”&nbsp;</span><br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<b><br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

<span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In a 2002 speech to the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Chamber President Tom Donohue gave some insight into the rise of the Chamber's involvement in judicial elections. Taking aim at trial lawyers who successfully litigated class action lawsuits for people harmed by asbestos and tobacco companies,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.justiceatstake.org/media/cms/JASNPJEDecadeONLINE_8E7FD3FEB83E3.pdf" target="_blank" style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; -webkit-transition: background-color 0.2s ease, border 0.2s ease, color 0.2s ease, opacity 0.2s ease-in-out; line-height: 18px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">he said</a></b><span style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>, “Our approach is simple — implement a multi-front strategy of challenging these unscrupulous trial lawyers every time they poke their head out of the ground.&nbsp;</b>… On the political front, we’re going to get involved in key state Supreme Court and attorney general races as part of our effort to elect pro-legal reform judicial candidates.... We’re clearly engaged in hand-to-hand combat, and we’ve got to step it up if we’re going to survive.”&nbsp;</span><br style=" line-height: 18px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />

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<div class="byline story"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span class="field field-name-field-sources field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden"><span class="field-items"><span class="field-item even"><a href="http://www.salon.com/">Salon</a><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><span class="print-footnote">[1]</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>/<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><em>By</em><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><em><a href="http://www.alternet.org/authors/david-seligman-and-nick-clark">David Seligman and Nick Clark</a><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><span class="print-footnote">[2]</span></em></font></div>

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<h1 property="dc:title" datatype="" class="node-title"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Your Job Contract or Cellphone Agreement May Contain Language That Can Ruin Your Life</font></h1>

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<div class="story-date"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><em><span class="field field-name-field-date field-type-date field-label-hidden"><span class="field-items"><span class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2014-11-07T14:38:00-08:00">November 7, 2014</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></em>&nbsp;| &nbsp;</font></div>

<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">This month, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that it is suing a regional restaurant group that owns a number of fast-food franchises, including Applebee’s, Panera Bread and Chevy’s, because the group requires all of its employees and applicants to sign a “forced arbitration” clause as a condition of employment – that is, if these employees want to work in the group’s restaurants, they must sign away their right to hold their employer accountable in court for violating state or federal employment laws.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The EEOC’s efforts are admirable, but they address a tiny portion of a much bigger problem.&nbsp; These hidden forced arbitration clauses lurk behind many of the most brutal injustices facing consumers and workers.&nbsp; For example, a court in Texas recently held that a woman who washed dishes at a fast food restaurant could not sue in court for damages from personal injuries she sustained on the job.&nbsp; The problem had nothing to do with her argument that she’d been treated unfairly; the problem was that her employee handbook had contained a forced arbitration agreement that dictated that her claims were to be decided by a private arbitrator.</font>

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<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">We’ve faced problems like this before. In the early 20th century, American corporations frequently required their workers to agree not to join together in a union to seek higher wages or better working conditions.&nbsp; The choice wasn’t whether or not to waive your rights, but whether you wanted a job — and that wasn’t much of a choice at all. Commentators at the time referred to these agreements as “yellow-dog contracts,” because they “reduced to the level of a yellow dog” every person forced to sign them.&nbsp; The contracts were not the result of free and equal bargaining between workers and their employers.&nbsp; &nbsp;Rather, they effectively forced employees to sell themselves into indentured servitude.&nbsp; &nbsp;With the Norris-LaGuardia Act, Congress preserved workers’ dignity and restored the freedom to contract.</font>

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<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Recently, a series of Supreme Court decisions have made forced arbitration agreements a new kind of “yellow dog contract.</b>” Buried in the terms and conditions of cellphone contracts, credit agreements, school enrollment forms, nursing home contracts and employment contracts in non-union workplaces, forced arbitration clauses require consumers and employees to give up their constitutional right to a jury of their peers as a condition of keeping their job or buying goods from a company. (Through the collective bargaining process, unionized workers have the advantage of negotiating over an arbitration agreement.)</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Although claims forced into arbitration — unlike claims filed in court — are generally secret, we know about forced arbitration agreements because so many merchants and employers have inserted them into the fine print of boilerplate contracts we see every day.</font>

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<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">We know that despite assurances from corporations that arbitration is faster and quicker than litigation, forced arbitration agreements often require consumers and non-union employees to pay arbitration fees that are much higher than the filing fees they would have to pay to file a claim in court.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">We know that the vast majority of consumers and non-union employees are prevented from vindicating their rights because forced arbitration clauses prevent them from pooling their resources in a class or collective action, thus allowing companies to violate the law with impunity.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">We know that arbitrators who handle claims under these forced arbitration clauses, who are paid hundreds of dollars by the hour, have a financial incentive to rule in favor of corporations to keep getting work from the companies whose arbitration clauses designate them to decide claims.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">And we know that these agreements, like the “yellow-dog contracts” of the early 1900s, aren’t agreements at all.&nbsp; They are the price of being a consumer or non-union worker in 21st century America.</font>

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<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The legalese in the “Terms & Conditions” we absentmindedly accept online and the dense language of the employee handbooks given to us on the first days of jobs in non-unionized workplaces aren’t bargained for after negotiation as contracts should be. This language is developed by lawyers in office buildings behind closed doors. Recently it came to light that, in the late 1990s, the major credit card companies came together to form a secret “arbitration coalition” designed to create ways to force consumers to waive their rights to file claims in court. When credit card companies changed the terms of their card agreements to effectively insulate themselves from liability for wrongdoing, consumers were left without a choice. They could either waive their rights or give up their credit cards.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Voluntary arbitration can help resolve some disputes, but consumers and employees should have the opportunity and right to make this choice for themselves. Recently, President Obama signed an Executive Order allowing employees of large federal contractors to voluntarily decide whether they want to submit their sexual harassment or discrimination claims to private arbitration. The CFPB can do the same for consumers of financial products, the Security Exchange Commission for some investors, and the EEOC can help tackle the clauses in employment agreements.&nbsp; Congress can simplify things by giving all employees and consumers the right to voluntarily decide whether they want to arbitrate disputes.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The freedom to contract is one of the bedrocks of our society. Let’s take it back by stopping forced arbitration.</font>

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<div class="field-item even"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/employment-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel">employment</a><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><span class="print-footnote">[4]</span>,</font></div>

<div class="field-item odd"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/corporations" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel">corporations</a><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><span class="print-footnote">[5]</span>,</font></div>

<div class="field-item even"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/law-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel">law</a><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><span class="print-footnote">[6]</span>,</font></div>

<div class="field-item odd"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/contract-law" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel">Contract law</a><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><span class="print-footnote">[7]</span></font></div>

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<div class="print-footer" style=" text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">

<hr class="print-hr" style=" border: 0px none; height: 1px; width: 1551px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; background-color: rgb(158, 158, 158);" />

<div class="print-source_url" style=" font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><strong>Source URL:</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.alternet.org/your-job-contract-or-cellphone-agreement-may-contain-language-can-ruin-your-life">http://www.alternet.org/your-job-contract-or-cellphone-agreement-may-contain-language-can-ruin-your-life</a></font></div>

<div class="print-links" style=" font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">

<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><strong>Links:</strong>

[1] http://www.salon.com

[2] http://www.alternet.org/authors/david-seligman-and-nick-clark

[3] mailto:corrections@alternet.org?Subject=Typo on Your Job Contract or Cellphone Agreement May Contain Language That Can Ruin Your Life

[4] http://www.alternet.org/tags/employment-0

[5] http://www.alternet.org/tags/corporations

[6] http://www.alternet.org/tags/law-0

[7] http://www.alternet.org/tags/contract-law

[8] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B</font></p>

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<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">===</font></p>

<h1 style=" line-height: 26px; text-transform: none; margin: 0pt 0pt 0.5em; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Forced Arbitration Rogues Gallery</font></h1>

<h2 style=" line-height: 19px; text-transform: none; margin: 0pt 0pt 0.5em; font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Expose Corporations That Are Rigging the Justice System Against Consumers</font></h2>

<p style=" font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; text-transform: none; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">If your bank, cell phone provider, employer or other company that you conduct business with violated your rights or cheated you, would you want to retain your ability to take them to court? Many companies are now using fine print to stop you and other consumers from doing so.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Below is just a sampling of some of the largest corporations that have taken away their customers’ legal rights, immunizing themselves from accountability for wrongdoing.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">These corporations put “forced arbitration” clauses in their terms of service to block consumers from holding them accountable in court. If consumers (or employees) are hurt or ripped off by these companies, they must take their claims to private, secretive tribunals that favor the companies.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">ppl's boycott</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>liars:</b></font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">OBERT J. ERNST (Ernst sits on Board of Directors for PRI): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Pacific_Research_Institute</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">SWARTZ & ASSOCIATES (Rick Swartz sits on Advisory Board of For Our Grandchildren): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=For_Our_Grandchildren</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">VENABLE LLP (member James Burnley sits on Board of Directors of FreedomWorks): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Freedomworks</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>AUTOMOBILE & TRUCK MANUFACTURERS, GASOLINE, & PRODUCT PROVIDERS</b>:</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">AMOCO (ALEC): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=ALEC_Corporations</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">AMWAY Automotive Products (XLP, Hi-Gear) (ALEC): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=ALEC_Corporations</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">BP AMERICA (ALEC): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=ALEC_Corporations</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">CARMAX (forced arbitration clauses for employees) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">CHEVRON GAS (ALEC): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=ALEC_Corporations; &nbsp;(PRI member): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Pacific_Research_Institute; (AIM): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Accuracy_in_Media</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">CONOCO PHILLIPS Oil (AIM): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Accuracy_in_Media</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">EXXON MOBIL (ALEC):http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=ALEC_Corporations; &nbsp;(Corporate member of PRI): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Pacific_Research_Institute; (AIM): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Accuracy_in_Media</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">GENERAL MOTORS (ALEC): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=ALEC_Corporations</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">GETTY OIL (AIM): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Accuracy_in_Media</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">MOBIL (AIM): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Accuracy_in_Media</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">PEP BOYS (forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">SAFELITE AUTO GLASS (LIMBAUGH) http://www.stoprush.net/sl.php#current_n</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">SLIME (tire care) (LIMBAUGH) http://www.stoprush.net/sl.php#current_n</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>BANKS/FINANCIAL SERVICE COMPANIES:</b></font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">AMERIPRISE (forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">AURORA CAPITAL GROUP (member Gerald Parsky is on Advisory Board of For Our Grandchildren: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=For_Our_Grandchildren)</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">BB&T &nbsp;(forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">BAIN CAPITAL (Romney's group)</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">BANK OF AMERICA (ALEC): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=ALEC_Corporations</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">CAPTAN LLC (F. Christian Wignall, VP, sits on Board of Directors for PRI): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Pacific_Research_Institute</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">CHARLES SCHWAB BANK (forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">CHASE (forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">CITIBANK (forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">DISCOVER (forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">EDWARD JONES (forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT Hedge Fund (big Rep. & Romney donors): http://www.npr.org/2012/04/17/150426158/superdonor-backs-romney-and-gay-marriage</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">EMERGING MARKETS GROUP (VP Ken Brown and Pres. Gregory Fossedal are members of AdTi: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Alexis_de_Tocqueville_Institution)</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">EQUIFAX (forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">FIDELITY INVESTMENTS (forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery; (SEC charges of graft): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Fidelity</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">FREEMONT GROUP (member James T. Farrell sits on Board of Directors for PRI): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Pacific_Research_Institute</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">FREISS ASSOCIATES EQUITY (big Rep. donors): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Foster_Friess</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">GENERATION AMERICA (LIMBAUGH) http://www.stoprush.net/sl.php#current_n</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">GILDER, GAGNON, HOWE & CO, LLC (Richard Gilder is member of Club for Growth: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Club_for_growth)</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">GOLDMAN SACHS (Trading fraud): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Goldman_Sachs</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">HARRIS TRUST & SAVINGS BANK ("Golden Parachute payouts): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Harris_Bank</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">INTERNATIONAL PAPER (ALEC): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=ALEC_Corporations</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">JW CHILDS EQUITY (big Rep. donors- "Republican ATM"): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=John_childs</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">JACOBS LEVY EQUITY (big Rep donors): http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/152318/$1_million_donation_to_the_kochs_meet_the_wealthy_right-wingers_helping_fund_the_brothers'_agenda/page=2</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">KUDLOW & CO. INVESTMENT RESEARCH (Kudlow is member of Club for Growth): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Club_for_growth</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">LPL FINANCIAL LLP (forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">LEAR CAPITAL (gold-buying group) (LIMBAUGH) http://www.stoprush.net/sl.php#current_n</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">LIFELOCK (identity theft) (LIMBAUGH) http://www.stoprush.net/sl.php#current_n</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">LITCHFIELD ADVISORS (member Robert Lansing sits on Foundation Board of FreedomWorks): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Freedom_Works</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY (forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">PNC BANK (forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">PADDEN & CO. (David Padden is member Emeritus of FreedomWorks):http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Freedomworks</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">PAULSON & CO. (hedge fund group) (John Paulson is largest contributor to Restore Our Future): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=%22Restore_Our_Future%22</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">REGIONS BANK (forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">SALLIE MAE (forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">SANDS CAPITAL MGMT. (member Frank M. Sands, Sr. sits on Foundation Board of FreedomWorks): http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.phptitle=Freedom_Works</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">SOVEREIGN BANK &nbsp;(forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">TD BANK (forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">T. ROWE PRICE(forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">TAX RESOLUTION SERVICES (LIMBAUGH) - http://www.stoprush.net/sl.php#current_n</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">US BANK (forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">VANGUARD GROUP (forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">WELLS FARGO (forced arbitration clauses) - http://www.citizen.org/rigged-justice-rogues-gallery</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">A 2000 Washington Post survey of cases involving First USA Bank, then the nation's second largest credit card company, revealed that arbitrators ruled for the bank 99.6 percent of the time. In 2007, a Public Citizen report revealed that one giant firm, the National Arbitration Forum, hired out its private adjudicators to hear some 34,000 consumer-versus-bank cases in California during the previous four years, and they ruled for the financial giants 95 percent of the time. Even more incredible, the City of San Francisco discovered in a 2008 lawsuit that of 18,045 cases brought by the financial powers against overwhelmed California consumers, NAF's private judges sided with the corporations 100 percent of the time.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Brand name riggers of the justice system</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Practically every national brand name you??ve ever heard of now slips predatory arbitration provisions into their customer terms-of-service agreements and/or employment agreements. Not only do these sneaky inserts strip away your constitutional right to take them to court (peremptorily immunizing them from any wrongs they do to you), but many of the boilerplate provisions also arbitrarily ban you from joining with other small claimants in class actions to hold them accountable. ... [read more]</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Supremely shafted</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Unfortunately, the Supreme Court is still messing with us, still systematically undermining the Seventh Amendment by herding us ever deeper into the darkness of these backroom corporate courts. The same supreme wrecking crew of Alito, Kennedy, Roberts, Scalia, and Thomas that smashed our People's democratic sovereignty with its infamous Citizens United decision, has also been siding with corporate America to sledgehammer the People's right to judicial fairness.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">For example, in real courtrooms, it's common for many wronged employees or consumers who have the same complaint against a corporate rip-off to roll their small cases into one big one. This "class action" process saves money and time, because instead of 100 cases needing 100 law firms, judges, and juries, only one of each is needed. Makes sense. But common sense is a feared foreigner in ArbitrationLand, and--surprise!--nearly all BMA agreements ban class actions.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In 2010, the supremes took this ban to extremes, declaring that even if an agreement is silent on the use of class-action arbitration, class actions are still disallowed, forcing each individual to battle the goliaths alone. In a 2011 consumer case against AT&T, the Court majority ruled that even when a class-action ban in a BMA clause is so "unconscionable" that it violates state law, the corporate miscreant can nonetheless ban the class from arbitration and compel each claimant to go it alone.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">This June, the Court's corporate supremists are expected to stretch the primacy of private arbitration even farther--so far that corporations could openly and willfully violate our antitrust, civil rights, and other landmark laws enacted to protect the less powerful. The case pits American Express against a group of its own small business customers that accept AmEx credit cards. The restaurateurs, retailers, and others say the powerhouse financial firm flagrantly runs roughshod over them by using its monopoly position to make them pay excess "swipe fees" on charge card transactions. Each merchant is gouged by a few thousand dollars a year, but proving their claims in court could cost about $1 million each, making solo suits cost-prohibitive. Thus, to see justice done, they filed their lawsuit as a class.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">"No you don't," barked AmEx lawyers, pointing to fine print in the corporation's contract with merchants that (1) requires disputes to go to arbitration, and (2) prohibits "any claims from being arbitrated on a class action basis." The upshot? If the Court agrees with AmEx, the one-sided bit of corporate boilerplate it slipped into its standard-form contract would allow it and every other corporation to use their private judicial system to nullify an Act of Congress. In other words, by corporate fiat, America's antitrust laws (and, by extension, other basic laws) would be superseded by a piece of mumbo-jumbo that private businesses put in BMA agreements.</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font>

<font face="Times New Roman" size="4">[An "aha!" tidbit: The US Chamber of Commerce, which claims to be the unrelenting defender of small business, has put its own legal muscle firmly behind AmEx in this case, strenuously pushing the Court to let the credit card colossus hammer the little guys.] &nbsp;hightower</font></p>

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