Americans Oppose Forced Employment Arbitrations

Workers should not be denied their right to a jury trial. . . when their employers violate the law, especially if they don't even know that they are giving up that right just to work. Kudos to The Institute for highlighting this issue.

According to a study unveiled in D.C. today:

A majority of Americans opposes the practice of forced arbitration, the survey of 800 likely voters nationwide found.

59% oppose forced arbitration clauses in the fine print of employment contracts and consumer contracts, including both men and women and majorities of Democrats, independents, and Republicans.



59% support the Arbitration Fairness Act. Support for the Act also crosses traditional gender and political divides.



Most Americans are unaware of the rights being taken away from them. Roughly three-quarters of Americans believe they can sue an employer or company should they be seriously harmed or have a major dispute arise - even if they are bound by forced arbitration terms.



Approximately two-thirds cannot remember seeing anything about forced arbitration in Terms of Employment or Terms of Agreement for goods and services.



The Employee Rights Advocacy Institute For Law & Policy (The Institute), in collaboration with Public Citizen, will unveil findings of a National Study of Public Attitudes on Forced Arbitration at a press conference today on the Arbitration Fairness Act in Washington, DC.

The study is based on a major national survey on mandatory arbitration of employment and consumer claims conducted by Lake Research Partners, one of the most respected national public opinion and political strategy research firms in the country.

This important research was made possible by a grant from The Public Welfare Foundation.



The Institute is pleased to release this study on the day it launches its web site at www.employeerightsadvocacy.org.



Download the National Study of Public Attitudes on Forced Arbitration.



The Employee Rights Advocacy Institute For Law & Policy is the related public interest organization of the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA).