House Votes to Ban Forced Arbitration, Stopping Corporate Wrongdoers From Denying Justice
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. House today passed the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act (FAIR Act, H.R. 963), which would ban forced arbitration in employment, consumer, antitrust, and civil rights disputes. Lisa Gilbert, executive vice president of Public Citizen, released the following statement:
“There may be no more blatant example of how giant corporations rig our economy and political system than the take-it-or-leave-it, fine print language they insert into the consumer, employment and other contracts we enter into every day. Today, in an important step forward, the House passed the FAIR Act, a measure that would end the tricks and traps that are endemic in form contracts, including those you enter by clicking ‘I agree’ on the internet.
“Hundreds of millions of contracts contain forced arbitration provisions and class-action waivers, denying consumers and workers the ability to file lawsuits in court and preventing them from joining with other similarly situated people to sue together. Corporate apologists for arbitration often say it is an alternative venue to obtain justice. But in practice, it just means cheated or abused consumers and employees are out of luck. Today, the House finally stated: No more.”