HomeLatest NewsFeatured HomebuildersHome Buyer ResourcesBinding ArbitrationResource LinksSubmit ComplaintsView ComplaintsTake Action 101!Report Mortgage FraudMortgage Fraud NewsForeclosure NewsConstruction DefectsHome DefectsPhoto GalleryFoundation ProblemsHomeowner Website LinksHOA Reform
Main Menu
Home
Latest News
Featured Homebuilders
Home Buyer Resources
Binding Arbitration
Resource Links
Submit Complaints
View Complaints
Take Action 101!
Report Mortgage Fraud
Mortgage Fraud News
Foreclosure News
Construction Defects
Home Defects
Photo Gallery
Foundation Problems
Homeowner Website Links
HOA Reform
Featured Topics
Builder Death Spiral
Report Mortgage Fraud
Foreclosure Special Report
Mold & New Home Guide
Special News Reports
Centex & Habitability
How Fast Can They Build Them?
TRCC Editorial
Texas TRCC Scandal
Texas Watch - Tell Lawmakers
TRCC Recommendations
Sandra Bullock
People's Lawyer
Prevent Nightmare Homes
Choice Homes
Smart Money
Weekly Update Message
HOBB Archives
About HOBB
Contact Us
Fair Use Notice
Legislative Work
Your House

 HOBB News Alerts
and Updates

Click Here to Subscribe

Support HOBB - Become a Sustaining Member
Who's Online
ABC Special Report
Investigation: New Home Heartbreak
Trump - NAHB Homebuilders Shoddy Construction and Forced Arbitration
New York Times Editorial - On Binding Arbitration
Sunday, 27 June 2010

Beware the Fine Print
Buried in the fine print of most contracts for cellphones, health insurance and credit cards is a clause requiring that all disputes be decided by binding arbitration, rather than a court. Businesses love these provisions, because arbitrators act quickly and almost always rule in their favor, 
and many employers are requiring new hires to sign similar agreements... Unless Congress changes the rules, these cases may never get back to the courts, where they have a chance for a fair resolution.

New York Times Editorial
Beware the Fine Print
June 25, 2010

Buried in the fine print of most contracts for cellphones, health insurance and credit cards is a clause requiring that all disputes be decided by binding arbitration, rather than a court. Businesses love these provisions, because arbitrators act quickly and
almost always rule in their favor, and many employers are requiring new hires to sign similar agreements.

All of this sounds pretty unfair, but apparently not unfair enough for the Supreme Court, which has now made the arbitration process even more onerous. The court ruled last Monday there was nothing wrong with requiring that the fairness of an arbitration clause be determined by — an arbitrator. To appreciate the absurdity, consider the case at hand, which was brought by Antonio Jackson, a black account manager for Rent-A-Center in Nevada who tried to sue the company for racial discrimination after being denied repeated promotions.

Mr. Jackson had earlier signed an employment agreement saying that all employee discrimination claims had to be arbitrated but a host of claims brought by Rent-A-Center against employees could go before a judge. Any challenge to the fairness of the arbitration clause would also have to go before an arbitrator.

A federal judge dismissed Mr. Jackson’s lawsuit because of the arbitration clause, but the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court revived it, saying courts could rule when arbitration agreements were “unconscionable.” That decision was reversed by Justice Antonin Scalia and the four other conservative members of the Supreme Court.

By challenging the entire arbitration agreement as lopsided and unfair, the majority said, Mr. Jackson triggered the need for arbitration and could not seek court relief. Justice John Paul Stevens, in one of his final fervent dissents, described that notion as “fantastic.” If a contract is invalid, he said, how can the arbitration clause it contains still be valid?

There are many ways in which an arbitration clause might be considered “unconscionable.” What if an employer inserts a provision that the employee has to pay all arbitration fees? Or that the employer gets to pick the arbitrator? In one famous case, a contract between the Hooters restaurant chain and its employees allowed the company to select two members of a three-arbitrator panel. That contract was struck down. Unless Congress changes the rules, these cases may never get back to the courts, where they have a chance for a fair resolution.

 
< Prev   Next >
Search HOBB.org

Reckless Endangerment
BY: GRETCHEN MORGENSON
and JOSHUA ROSNER

Outsized Ambition, Greed and
Corruption Led to
Economic Armageddon


Amazon
Barnes & Noble

NPR Special Report
Part I Listen Now
Perry Home - No Warranty 
Part II Listen Now
Texas Favors Builders

Washington Post
The housing bubble, in four chapters
BusinessWeek Special Reports
Bonfire of the Builders
Homebuilders helped fuel the housing crisis
Housing: That Sinking Feeling

Consumer Affairs Builder Complaints

IS YOUR STATE NEXT?
As Goes Texas So Goes the Nation
Knowledge and Financial Responsibility are still Optional for Texas Home Builders

OUTSTANDING FOX4 REPORT
TRCC from Bad to Worse
Case of the Crooked House

TRCC AN ARRESTING EXPERIENCE
The Pat and Bob Egert Building & TRCC Experience 

Build it right the first time
An interview with Janet Ahmad

Bad Binding Arbitration Experience?
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
or call 1-210-402-6800

Drum Major Institute
for Public Policy

Tort Deform
Report Your Arbitration Experience

 Feature: Mother Jones Magazine
Are you Next?
People Magazine - Jordan Fogal fights back
Because of construction defects Jordan’s Tremont Home is uninhabitable
http://www.tremonthomehorrors.com/
You could be the next victim
Interview with Award Winning Author Jordan Fogal

top of page

© 2024 HomeOwners for Better Building
Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU/GPL License.