Morning Consult: Forced Arbitration is Cutting off Access to Justice. Congress Can Stop It.

PPP’s own Beth Feldstein and Emma Janger write for Morning Consult in support of the FAIR Act:

Unsurprisingly, being subject to forced arbitration discourages most people from bringing their claims in the first place. The rare consumers who pursue arbitration only end up obtaining monetary relief about 9 percent of the time. In fact, the average consumer ends up paying over $7,000 as a result of an arbitration action. Americans are more likely to be struck by lightning than win in forced arbitration.

And forced arbitration is everywhere. Nearly half of checking accounts and the vast majority of cell phone contracts, private student loans and storefront payday loans have forced arbitration clauses. Today, more than half of nonunion private-sector workers are subject to forced arbitration. This means that over 60 million American workers can’t bring their claims in court if they experience illegal treatment at work, like sexual harassment, racial discrimination, or wage theft. Companies can, in effect, face little to no penalty for breaking the law.

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