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Letters
Mandatory arbitration is a blow to rights
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent 5-4 decision to deny employees the Constitutional right to trial by jury in a dispute with an employer strikes another huge blow to the common person.
Employers insert mandatory arbitration clauses into employment agreements solely to protect themselves from the people. The jury, which is the purest form of democracy, is made of people randomly chosen from the community to decide what conduct will be tolerated in society and what will not. In making their decision, the jury is constrained by the bounds of the law. If a judge or jury fails to properly apply the law, or engages in misconduct, a party may appeal the decision to an impartial court.
An arbitrator, on the other hand, is one person who is free to ignore the law in making his or her decisions. There are no mandated regulatory, ethical or educational laws governing an arbitrator. Anyone can declare himself or herself an arbitrator. Arbitrators are not required to have special knowledge of the law or expertise in a particular subject area. The decisions may be arbitrary and there is seldom any relief from an arbitrator's misconduct. An arbitrator's decision can rarely be appealed.
Sophisticated corporations know who the favorable arbitrators are and they only agree to arbitrators who have rendered decisions in their favor in the past. Those arbitrators are not truly impartial, as they are rewarded with repeat business from these higher volume users of their services. This problem is aggravated by the fact that arbitration hearings and decisions are typically secret. This system allows wrongdoers to hide information from public inspection. While this may suit employers just fine, it is bad public policy. The public is entitled to know when employers abuse their employees.
Arbitration has been falsely billed as an inexpensive method of resolving disputes. To the contrary, it is typically quite expensive. Arbitrators commonly charge from $200 to more than $600 an hour and the cost of the arbitrator is typically shared by both sides. Many employees have been forced to bear abuse without remedy because they could not afford to pay for the arbitration which was their only forum to resolve their claims.
Finally, employers have no obligation to explain this dismal system to employees and to give them an option to preserve their constitutional right to a jury trial if they desire. While employers may not retaliate against employees or prospective employees for refusing to sign a mandatory arbitration agreement, in reality, most employees will not raise the issue for fear of being considered a "problem," thereby risking their careers. When an employer demands an employment arbitration agreement, it plans to take advantage of its economic muscle at the expense of your rights.
We all hope, and perhaps assume, we will never need to make any claims against our employers. Most of us won't. Should the unexpected occur, however, we need to have a fair and impartial forum to resolve our disputes. Mandatory arbitration is definitely not the answer.
Robert H. Bohn Jr.
Los Gatos
LG contribution to housing trust deemed visionary
Recently the town council of Los Gatos voted to support the Housing Trust of Santa Clara County with a $250,000 contribution that will be used with other contributions to build housing in Los Gatos and throughout Santa Clara County. It was a farsighted and visionary decision to support an effort that will result in more affordable housing and help to resolve the affordable housing crisis in the town and in the valley. I grew up in Los Gatos and while we may never be able to return to the relatively affordable place that the town was 30 years ago, we can do an increasingly more effective job in solving the housing crisis.
Rising housing costs and decreasing availability are adversely affecting the quality of life in Santa Clara County and the entire Silicon Valley. Rents have gone up over 60 percent in the past five years and homeownership prices at least that much. It is projected that nearly 400,000 new jobs will be created in the next 10 years, with less than 100,000 new housing units becoming available, further exacerbating the problem. Affordable housing is integral to economic well-being, job recruitment and talent retention. Housing is directly linked to the region's other two major issues--transportation and education. Housing creates jobs, boosts local tax revenues and enables our community to be a vibrant place to live, work and conduct business.
The HTSCC is a public/private initiative spearheading the creation of more affordable housing, first-time homebuyers and low-income housing assistance. Begun in 1997, the HTSCC grew out of the collective visions of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group, Santa Clara County Collaborative on Housing and Homelessness and the Community Foundation Silicon Valley.
The initial goal of the HTSCC initiative is to help more than 5,000 individuals and families severely affected by the housing crisis. Specifically, the HTSCC will support the creation of up to 3,000 affordable rental homes, assist nearly 800 first-time home buyers with low cost down payment loans
Chris Block
Housing Trust of Santa Clara County
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
