Are Arbitration Agreements Fair And Consistent With Company Culture?

This series (Is Arbitration the Answer? and Can Arbitration Agreements Protect Employers Against Class Actions?) examines whether an employee arbitration program can help minimize legal risks from COVID-19 and beyond.

In this article, we consider a factor employers sometimes overlook in deciding whether to make arbitration of disputes a condition of employment:  Is such an arbitration program consistent with company culture? 

To some, requiring employees to agree to arbitrate disputes is a corporate scheme to make it harder for employees to hold their employer accountable for harassment, discrimination or unlawful pay practices.  Under this view, arbitration is unfair because it:  (a) forces employees to submit their claims to arbitrators who are beholden to employers; (b) prevents employees from conducting broad discovery to try to show systematic wrongdoing; (c) allows employers to keep their wrongdoing confidential; and (d) deprives employees of their most