Lucas,
No one should have to sign away his or her rights in order to get a job.
But that's exactly what happened to Dr. Deborah Pierce, an emergency room doctor from Philadelphia.
Her employer slipped a forced arbitration clause into her employment contract. Two years later, she was fired -- and unable to hold her boss accountable for an egregious case of gender discrimination.
The clause took away her right to take her employer to court. Instead, she was forced into a private health industry tribunal that exhibited bias against her throughout the arbitration, while favoring the company she had worked for.
Tell Congress to end forced arbitration.
Last week, Dr. Pierce testified before Congress to urge passage of the Arbitration Fairness Act (S. 987, H.R. 1873).
Here's her story:
Dr. Pierce accepted a job at a medical practice. Taking the job included accepting a huge pay cut, but she was assured she would be made a partner in the practice after two years -- an assurance that implied a pay raise big enough to make the pay cut worth the trouble.
She took the job, not realizing that her employment contract contained a forced arbitration clause -- language requiring her to resolve any dispute that might arise between herself and her employer before an arbitrator instead of in court.
Then, instead of getting a pay raise after two years, she was fired.
She learned that the practice had a reputation for firing female doctors -- and was horrified when a less-qualified male colleague was given the opportunity to become a partner.
A review by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission confirmed that the firing constituted illegal discrimination -- but the forced arbitration clause kept her from taking the case to court.
Instead, Dr. Pierce had to make her case before an arbitrator that was chosen by the medical practice she was fired from -- and dependent upon that practice for repeat business.
Her former employers' case was weak, and they even withheld numerous documents from the proceeding. Nevertheless, the arbitrator ruled against Dr. Pierce. The partners escaped with their bad behavior -- and today their medical practice is all male.
The entire process cost her $200,000. Even as a well-paid physician, she had to go into debt to make -- and, ultimately, to lose -- her case. She had no viable option for appeal.
"Congress provided in the employment discrimination laws the right of an aggrieved employee to have her claims heard in federal court," Dr. Pierce reminded Congress in her testimony.
She continued, "Employers are unilaterally denying that right to employees with impunity. Congress should restore employees' access to the courts in discrimination cases by passing the Arbitration Fairness Act."
Urge your members of Congress to support the Arbitration Fairness Act.
Forced arbitration isn't just a problem in employment contracts.
Banks, cell phone companies, cable providers and other industries also insert these clauses into the fine print of their contracts so they can rip off consumers and avoid being held accountable.
Thanks for all you do,
Rick Claypool
Public Citizen's Online Action Team
action@citizen.org