Victim of Racial Discrimination? You Take 'Em to . . . Arbitration?

The old People's Court with Judge Wapner featured commentator Doug Llewelyn coining a phrase that became iconic in American legal culture:  "If you're involved in a dispute such as this with another party and you just can't seem to work it out, don't take the law into your own hands - you take 'em to court."

See video below at :30:



When an African-American man sued Airbnb over racial discrimination, he discovered that he can't "take 'em to court."  His Airbnb account contract included an enforceable mandatory arbitration clause.  So instead of presenting his evidence to an impartial, competent judge or jury, he will have the opportunity to present his case to non-judicial decision-maker who makes a living out of deciding cases for Airbnb and similar parties.  Could such a decision-maker likely have some innate partiality toward a business or industry that provides his/her livelihood?

What do you think?

A-Rod Drops ADR Challenge

NY Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez has apparently withdrawn his lawsuits filed as an "appeal" of an arbitrator's ruling that suspends him from playing for the entire 2014 season as a penalty for using performance enhancing drugs. Legal commentators are not surprised.  The lawsuit had zero chance of success.  It is one of the hallmarks of arbitration that appeals of arbitrator's rulings cannot merely allege that the arbitrator was wrong. The arbitrator could have made his decision based on the testimony of a witness who said that heard from a guy who was abducted by space aliens that the aliens supplied A-Rod with the PEDs, and the decision would not likely be overturned. Unless there was fraud or extortion or some other similarly untoward conduct by the arbitrator or the arbitrator exceeded the parameters of the dispute submitted to him or her for resolution, the courts will not disturb the arbitrator's ruling.  That is why the issue of mandatory arbitration clauses in employment contracts is so important.