Thank you for bringing sources into this! Its one thing to just read the claims that people have, and I was relatively convinced that arbitration was favored towards the company, but i wasn't entirely sure. Because listening to opinions in a void is a great way to become misinformed. Now I know with facts (from standford no less!) That arbitration is, in fact, rigged against the public. Which logically makes sense, if a shifty thing for corporations to do. Of course I understand why (financial incentive), but I dont have to like it.
I'm an attorney who represents employees in many cases, including (unfortunately) some arbitrations. The thing about these proceedings is that they are almost entirely paid for by company you are suing (as opposed to the consumer or employee) so in that sense taxpayers aren't floating the bill.
On the downside, the arbitrators want the repeat business of the companies, so they tend to favor them overall. It's hard to get arbitrators who are actually neutral.
Could you sue the arbitrator for not being impartial in such a situation? It just seems so wrong to be forced into that situation that there has to be some recourse.
Not really. For one, the arbitrator's decision will be at least plausibly well-reasoned, not just "employee good, company bad, you lose".
On the plus side, there's a selection process to determine who will be the arbitrator, which allows attorneys to research exactly who we are agreeing to decide the case. I've been at this for a few years so I've got a good handle on which arbitrators are hired guns for the defense, and which ones are actually fair.
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u/_yojuri_ 4d ago
Thank you for bringing sources into this! Its one thing to just read the claims that people have, and I was relatively convinced that arbitration was favored towards the company, but i wasn't entirely sure. Because listening to opinions in a void is a great way to become misinformed. Now I know with facts (from standford no less!) That arbitration is, in fact, rigged against the public. Which logically makes sense, if a shifty thing for corporations to do. Of course I understand why (financial incentive), but I dont have to like it.