Arbitration Fairness Act before Congress could ban mandatory arbitration

NPR (6/9, Goodwyn) reported that "Jamie Leigh Jones was a...Halliburton employee in 2005 when she was sent to work in Iraq." She was drugged, beaten and raped shortly after her arrival. "It has been four years since the attack, and despite the physical and circumstantial evidence, the Department of Justice has declined to investigate." She is now fighting for the right to have her case heard in court instead of arbitration.

Arbitration has "become a dominant feature in the legal relationship between American corporations, their employees, and their customers." The Arbitration Fairness Act “now before Congress would ban clauses that make arbitration mandatory for the resolution of disputes - restoring to consumers and employees the choice of taking their case to court."

At Hurley McKenna & Mertz, we believe in the right to a trial by jury, and oppose mandatory arbitration and anything else that interferes with that right. Congress should ban mandatory arbitration and allow people to chose to take their case to court or to arbitration, as the right to trial by jury is a pillar that is essential to the principle of justice in this country.