Lucas,
As the Capitol Hill blame game rages on, Big Business is trying to rig the justice system.
Multibillion-dollar banks, cell phone companies, cable providers and other industries are slipping forced arbitration clauses into the fine print of consumer contracts.
These clauses deny consumers' right to take the company to court. Instead, consumers and employees who have been hurt or ripped off are forced into a private, secretive tribunal that favors the corporations.
No one should have to sign away their rights in order to buy a product or get a job.
Tell Congress: Stop the corporate attack on our rights and end forced arbitration.
In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court made this bad situation worse by ruling that corporations also can use forced arbitration clauses to deny the right of consumers and employees to band together in class actions.
As a result, corporations are able to squash valid legal claims and evade accountability for practices that cheat consumers while padding the bottom line.
Class-action cases that have been dismissed and forced into individual arbitration include one filed by a former student who sought a class action for himself and other students, alleging that lenders improperly applied an undisclosed fee to student loans, and another filed by a cell phone customer who alleged that his wireless service provider charged improper roaming fees to him and other customers for calls that were placed within the coverage areas.
Numerous employment law claims for discrimination and other illegal and unfair practices also have been forced into individual arbitration.
These cases largely involved small-dollar losses, which are extremely difficult for consumers to pursue individually.
Legislation such as the Arbitration Fairness Act (which has yet to be re-introduced in the new Congress) would fix this injustice.
Urge your members of Congress to support legislation to ban forced arbitration in consumer and employment contracts.
Thanks for all you do,
Rick Claypool
Public Citizen's Online Action Team
action@citizen.org
P.S. Chances are, your friends and family are also among the millions of Americans whose rights are being eroded by forced arbitration clauses. Help us inform as many people as possible about this problem by forwarding this message today.