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June 20, 2002

Last night's (Wednesday) ABC World News Tonight program included a report 
on mandatory arbitration. Our recently-issued "The Costs of Arbitration" 
report stimulated this segment .  We provided considerable technical advice 
and our legislative counsel Jackson Williams appeared in the story.
Below is a transcript from last night's program.
No Right to Sue
Workers, Consumers Unwittingly Allow Mandatory Arbitration
By Cynthia McFadden

June 19 ? Kristy Rubio was on top of the world.
She had just been promoted and was expecting her first child.
But it all fell apart when, Rubio says, she was demoted because of her 
pregnancy. "They decided to demote me from escrow coordinator to 
receptionist because it was easier to replace a receptionist than an escrow 
coordinator," she says.
Her employers deny any discrimination. When Rubio decided to take them to 
court she was stunned to learn she did not have the right to sue.
Like millions of Americans, Rubio signed a contract when she started her 
new job. It required her to resolve disputes in private proceedings, 
without going to court ? it's called mandatory arbitration. Rubio says she 
felt pressured to sign the agreement and was not even given a chance to 
read it..
"I definitely didn't want to cause waves, and say 'No, I'm not going to 
sign this,'" she says. "So I did feel that, yes, I needed to sign right 
there or there were going to be problems."
New Policy in Insurance, Credit, Phone Contracts
Mandatory arbitration clauses are showing up in the contracts people sign 
with many businesses, including health insurers, credit card and phone 
companies. They are often buried in the fine print.
"People are going to get an arbitration clause in a contract or it will 
come in the mail as one of these billstuffers," explains Jackson Williams 
of consumer advocacy group Public Citizen in Washington, D.C. "And they * 
have no idea that they're signing their rights away."
But the president of the country's leading arbitration association says the 
practice is better for business.
"It's less costly, and brings about a result to a troubling area promptly 
for both parties," says Bill Slate of the American Arbitration Association 
in New York.
Opponents say removing the prospect of a trial by judge and jury can make 
it easier for companies to disregard the law.
"They see it as a get out of jail free card," says Jackson. "They know that 
the chances that they will be sued are much, much lower if their employees 
or customers are covered by arbitration clauses."
Legislation has now been introduced in Congress prohibiting employers from 
using mandatory arbitration.
But that's too late for Kristy Rubio. Three years later, she is still in 
arbitration.
Amid tears, Rubio says: "They took a very exciting time in my life and 
destroyed it, and took away my career and excitement."
And her right to go to court.
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