Signing an Arbitration Agreement With Your Employer
by
Bonnie Barnish, Attorney
Employers are increasingly asking workers to give up their rights through arbitration agreements, so be careful what you sign.
In a growing trend, employees are giving up their right to sue their employers in court over issues such as wrongful termination, breach of contract, and discrimination. How are they doing this? By signing documents called arbitration agreements. When employees sign these agreements, they are promising to pursue any legal claims against their employer through arbitration, rather than through a lawsuit. Arbitration can mean giving up a lot -- it could even mean the difference between winning or losing your case.
The Disadvantages of Arbitration
You may wonder why you should care where your claims get heard, as long as they are heard somewhere, be it in arbitration or a court of law. An arbitration differs from a court case in several ways, and many of these differences work against employees.
Most important, an arbitration is heard and decided by an "arbitrator" -- a private citizen (often a retired judge) who is paid by one or both sides to listen to the evidence and witnesses. That means you won’t have a jury hear your story -- and juries are usually more sympathetic to employees than are arbitrators.
In addition, the arbitration process limits the amount of information each side can get from the other. In employment cases, this generally hurts the employee, because the employer is usually the one in possession of all the documents and information relating to the employee’s case.
Finally, an arbitration usually cannot be appealed, making arbitration awards more final than court verdicts. This means that, if the arbitrator makes a decision that you think is unfair or wrong, you won’t get a second chance to argue your case before a higher court -- a second chance that you might have gotten had you gone to a court trial.
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