Blumenthal & Johnson Introduce Legislation Opening the Courthouse Doors to Consumers, Workers
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and U.S. Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA) led a group of 37 senators, including U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), and more than 80 members of the House of Representatives in introducing legislation to stop the use of unfair forced arbitration clauses, which are widely used to limit Americans’ access to justice. The FAIR (Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal) Act would eliminate forced arbitration clauses in consumer, antitrust, employment, and civil rights cases, and would allow consumers and workers to freely choose arbitration after a dispute occurs.
“Forced arbitration is unfair and un-American. Workers forced into a rigged arbitration system have lost one of the most powerful tools they have to hold employers accountable for gambling with their safety: access to justice,” Blumenthal said. “But workers aren’t the only ones at risk – nearly every American been stripped of their basic right to justice, whether they know it or not. One of the fundamental principles of our American democracy is that everyone gets their day in court. Forced arbitration deprives Americans of that basic right. The Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act simply rights that basic wrong.”
“Forced arbitration is an underhanded maneuver that corporations use to trick consumers, workers and small businesses out of their right to go to court and seek damages from a jury of their peers,” said Johnson. “You can't get a cell phone or credit card or even a job nowadays unless you sign away your rights because that's what every corporation requires. They force you into binding arbitration because it benefits them, and it's at your expense. If this sounds unfair, it is. Big businesses that already had all the power in the relationship between itself and someone like you or me, stacked the deck so that they can avoid the only thing out there that could hold them accountable – the United States justice system.”
Forced arbitration clauses restrict Americans’ access to justice by stripping consumers and workers of their right to go to court. Instead, consumers and workers are forced into an unfair arbitration system where corporations can write the rules; everything can be done in secret, without public rulings; discovery can be limited, making it hard for consumers to get the evidence they need to prove their case; and there’s no meaningful judicial review, so consumers and employees are often unable to appeal a decision even if the arbitrator gets it wrong.
In addition to Blumenthal and Murphy, the FAIR Act is co-sponsored in the Senate by: U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA), U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-NV), U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-VT), U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE), U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA), U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO), U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA).
The FAIR Act is supported by a broad coalition of public-interest groups including: AKPIRG, Alliance for Justice, American Association for Justice, Americans for Financial Reform, California Employment Lawyers Association, Center for Auto Safety, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Economic Integrity, Center for Economic Justice, Center for Justice & Democracy, Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research (CLEAR), Center for Progressive Reform, Center for Responsible Lending, Citizen Works, Committee to Support the Antitrust Laws, Consumer Action, Consumer Attorneys of CA, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports, Consumer Watchdog, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, DC Consumer Rights Coalition, Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council, Inc., Demand Progress, Earthjustice, Economic Action Maryland, Economic Policy Institute, Essential Information, Farmworker Association of Florida, Food & Water Watch, Googlers for Ending Forced Arbitration (Former), Impact Fund, Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Justice in Aging, Kansas Holistic Defenders, Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center, Long Term Care Community Coalition, Mobilization for Justice, National Association of Consumer Advocates, National Association of the Deaf, National Center for Law and Economic Justice, National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, National Consumers League, National Disability Rights Network (NDRN), National Employment Law Project, National Employment Lawyers Association, National Organization for Women, National Urban League, National Women's Law Center, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, New Jersey Citizen Action, Northwest Workers' Justice Project, People’s Parity Project, Prosperity Indiana, Protect All Children's Environment, Public Citizen, Public Good Law Center, Public Justice, Public Justice Center, South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center, Student Borrower Protection Center, Texas Appleseed, Texas Watch, The New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, THE ONE LESS FOUNDATION, The Sikh Coalition, Tzedek DC, USPIRG, Virginia Organizing, Woodstock Institute, Workplace Fairness.
“The FAIR Act’s ban on forced arbitration clauses in the corporate fine-print is urgently needed to restore critical legal protections, which would ensure consumers, workers, and small businesses can seek to hold corporate bad actors accountable in court for the harm they cause,” said Christine Hines, legislative director at the National Association of Consumer Advocates.
“Forced arbitration is a rigged game, one that repeat corporate players nearly always win,” said Lisa Gilbert, Executive Vice President of Public Citizen. “The FAIR Act would level the playing field and ensure that consumers and workers regain access to the courts when harmed by a company’s wrongdoing.”
“Today's introduction of the FAIR Act is a critical step in the fight to undo the corporate distortion of our legal system. Corporate lawyers designed the system of forced arbitration to slam the courthouse doors closed on working people, ensuring that they have no plausible path to justice when wronged by corporations. Passing this legislation will re-open those doors and give every worker and consumer the chance to pursue the day in court to which they are entitled under our system of laws. We urge members of Congress to act swiftly to advance the FAIR Act and restore access to the justice system to Americans,” said Molly Coleman, Executive Director, People’s Parity Project.
“The FAIR Act restores the rights of patients, workers, and consumers to seek justice when a corporation breaks the law. Every American should be able to decide how to pursue accountability rather than having a corporation make the choice for them with forced arbitration,” said American Association for Justice CEO Linda Lipsen.
“NCLC strongly supports Senator Blumenthal and Congressman Johnson’s re-introduction of the FAIR Act to restore consumers’ constitutional right to their day in court,” said Shennan Kavanagh, senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center. “Forced arbitration clauses in consumer financial contracts rob people of their right to an impartial judge and to a jury trial, and funnel consumers who have suffered financial loss caused by predatory businesses and illegal conduct into closed door, biased proceedings where they don't stand a chance. The FAIR Act would stop the use of these fine-print barriers to access to justice.”
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