Arbitrating Against Corporate Power Just Got More Expensive
In contracts ranging from credit cards to employment terms, arbitration agreements force consumers and workers to pursue corporate accountability via private arbitration rather than the court system. That arbitration process just got way more expensive.
This month, the American Arbitration Association, the largest private provider of arbitration services in the world, raised its fees for individuals filing a mass arbitration case seeking monetary damages or contract relief from a company. (SimpleImages / Getty Images)
From credit card terms of service to employment contracts, millions of people are trapped in agreements that only allow them to challenge corporate abuse through a private system of arbitration rather than in a court of law. Now, the biggest player in that private system has posted a twenty-five-fold increase in its filing fee — a move that experts say could prevent consumers and workers from holding corporations accountable.
On January 15, the American Arbitration Association (AAA), the largest private provider of arbitration services in the world, quietly raised its fees for individuals filing a mass arbitration case seeking monetary damages or contract relief from a company from $125 to $3,125.
The move comes amid regulatory efforts to rein in the rise of the arbitration industry, which critics say oftentimes forces consumers and workers into contracts that prevent class-action lawsuits and bars them from seeking a trial by jury.
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