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Saturday, November 4, 2000

Arbitration pact to go before highest court
Man seeks right to take Circuit City to court despite arbitration clause in his contract
By Bart Jansen
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - A California man's lawsuit alleging on-the-job harassment could set ground rules for when employers can force workers to settle labor disputes through arbitration rather than in court.
   The Supreme Court hears arguments Monday in the case of Saint Clair Adams, who was made to sign a document agreeing to settle any potential labor grievance through binding arbitration before Circuit City Stores Inc. would hire him. The court is reviewing what types of job classifications may fall under such an agreement.
   Business groups say arbitration is more convenient, less time-consuming and cheaper than lawsuits to settle grievances.
   "Businesses look at the costs (of lawsuits) as just crushing," said Lawrence Lorber, the lawyer who wrote the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's argument in the case. "If Circuit City loses, that would be a major, major development. The question is how they will win, and what type of rules the Supreme Court will set down."
   Critics say workers forfeit certain rights when they go before a private arbitrator rather than a judge. Appeals often are limited, damages are capped, and severe restrictions are placed on discovery, the process by which a worker's lawyer may gather information to buttress the case. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a policy recommendation in 1997 against mandatory arbitration.
   "In our view, these agreements are fundamentally in disagreement with the civil rights laws," said Ellen Vargyas, general counsel for the EEOC. "What we're basically talking about is private justice systems as opposed to public justice systems."
   Several civil rights groups, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Organization for Women Legal Defense Fund, have sided with Adams.
   Before hiring Adams in November 1995, Circuit City required him to sign a document agreeing to arbitration. A year later he quit, then filed a lawsuit that alleged co-workers at a Santa Rosa, Calif., store harassed him because he is gay, and the company did nothing when he complained.
   Circuit City asked a federal judge to throw out the case, citing Adams' agreement to arbitration. The judge sided with the company, but it was later overturned.

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