by Keith Lyon
As a law enforcement officer in Knoxville for nearly 30 years, I have spoken with community members, businesses, and individuals who have utilized the arbitration system as a key platform to find agreements to their disputes. It has proven to be a speedy process and the most affordable legal option for working people.
Despite this, trial lawyers and the Washington establishment are working to stop the use of this process once and for all. Under the Protecting Older Americans Act, older workers would be forbidden from using arbitration, giving them the sole option of filing court litigation that can cost them exorbitant fees.
Our country’s businesses would be directly harmed if the bill were to be enacted. While arbitration helps keep legal costs lower than usual, court litigation costs can ratchet up into thousands of dollars. This prevents our small businesses from being able to instead use the money for creating new products, hiring additional workers, and helping grow our economy.
Plaintiffs would also be financially hit by this legislation. Claims filed under arbitration have won claimants nearly $70,000, compared to less than $60,000 for those in court litigation. This means that this bill could cost plaintiffs around an average of $10,000 in settlement money that they could have used towards their family’s expenses.
Moreover, arbitration organizations have implemented strict standards to guarantee an unprejudiced system for groups disputing claims. This includes rules from the American Arbitration Association (AAA), the country’s leading arbitration provider, that mandates all arbitrators remain impartial, reveal any competition of interest, and are chosen by all involved parties. Inability to meet such standards means the AAA will refuse from moving forward with any such case.
This system also makes certain that arbitration outcomes remain transparent and available to the public. Under court rules, disputing parties hold the capacity to reveal the result of a case if they so choose. Meanwhile, state laws have made it mandatory for arbitral forums, including the AAA, to disclose the final decisions of a case.
Disputing parties have appreciated the ability to use arbitration to fairly resolve claims in a quick fashion. This system also makes certain that financial barriers aren’t a concern when filing claims. Employment related disputes make this clear, given that contingency-fee lawyers will refuse to take on a case if they aren’t the most financially lucrative.
Authorizing the Protecting Older Americans Act now threatens to drift our country further from its founding charter of freedom. As currently composed, the bill terminates arbitration by prohibiting age discrimination cases from using pre-dispute arbitration clauses. This stops all parties from reaching an understanding prior to any conflict that may arise down the road. If absent, the chances of reaching any mutually acceptable terms after a conflict has begun are exceedingly slim.
Arbitration has proven to be instrumental in resolving employment disputes. It reduces litigation costs for businesses and ensures claimants receive rightful compensation. We must safeguard this system by taking immediate action and preventing the enactment of the Protecting Older Americans Act.
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Keith Lyon is a veteran law enforcement officer in Knoxville. He is active in Republican Party politics.
Image “Court Trial” by Michael CC2.0.
