Congress Pushes for Employee Rights in Harassment, Discrimination, and Whistleblower Cases

By Thomas McKinney
Partner

A bill currently pending in Congress called the Arbitration Fairness Act seeks to end forced arbitration of employment lawsuits.  Arbitration is viewed by many lawyers as a forum that favors big business.  Arbitration is a process where employees and consumers give up their right to a trial before a judge and jury in favor of a hearing before a privately-hired lawyer.  An arbitrator is not required to give any reasons for his decision and rights of appeal are extremely limited.  Unfortunately, employers increasingly require employees to submit to arbitration as a condition of getting a job — usually by having the employee sign an arbitration contract on the first day on the job.  The bill has 108 co-sponsors in the House but only 11 in the Senate.

Dated: February 5, 2010 – Paul Castronovo, Esq. – Castronovo & McKinney, LLC – NJ Employment Attorneys

About the Author
Tom McKinney is an experienced NJ Employment Lawyer in all major areas of labor and employment law, including discrimination, harassment, overtime violations, wage and hour claims, sexual harassment, wrongful discharge, Title VII, ADA, ADEA, FMLA, LAD, FLSA, and all other employment law claims. Tom is admitted to practice in the States of New Jersey and New York, United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Southern District of New York, District of New Jersey, and United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Prior to forming the firm, Tom practiced at Gibbons P.C. in Newark, NJ. If you have any questions regarding this article, contact Tom here today.