Part 2: In Arbitration, a ‘Privatization of the Justice System’
nytimes.com
nytimes.com
"REPEAT BUSINESS
Fearful of losing business, some arbitrators pass around the story of Stefan M. Mason as a cautionary tale. They say Mr. Mason ruled in favor of an employee in an age discrimination suit, awarding him $1.7 million, and was never hired to hear another employment case.
While Mr. Mason’s experience was rare, more than 30 arbitrators said in interviews that the pressure to rule for the companies that give them business was real.
Companies can even specify in contracts with their customers and employees that all cases will be handled exclusively by one arbitration firm. Big law firms also bring repeat business to individual arbitrators, according to documents and interviews with arbitrators. Jackson Lewis, for example, had 40 cases with the same arbitrator in San Francisco over a five-year period."
AND
"For Ms. Pierce, the most astounding moment came when her lawyers asked Mr. Kalogredis to sanction the defense for breaking the rules of discovery and destroying evidence. He fined the defense $1,000 after investigating the matter, then billed Ms. Pierce $2,000 for the time it took him to look into it.
“I kept thinking, ‘I’m not a lawyer, but this can’t be right,’ ” said Ms. Pierce, who had to take out a second mortgage to cover her legal expenses, which included a $58,000 bill from Mr. Kalogredis.
After the ruling, Ms. Pierce’s lawyers wrote to Mr. Kalogredis’s arbitration firm questioning his qualifications. The firm, American Health Lawyers Association, responded that it was not its responsibility to verify the “abilities or competence” of its arbitrators."
Wow!
http://www.creators.com/opinion/jim-hightower/corporate-kang...