Fonza Luke
Princeton, Alabama
Fonza Luke, a mother of four and a grandmother, started working as a licensed nurse practitioner for Baptist Health Systems (BHS) at its Medical Center in 1971.
In November 1997, Fonza was told she must sign the new “Dispute Resolution Program” which meant employees would have to go into arbitration if they had legal claims. Fonza did not want to forfeit her rights so despite being told twice that she would be fired if she did not sign the agreement, she refused to sign it. Three years later, the hospital fired Fonza due to “insubordination” after almost 30 years of working for BHS with only the highest performance ratings. As a 59-year-old African-American woman, Fonza believed she was fired due to her race and age, so she filed claims with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and then in federal court. Even though she never signed anything, BHS asked the federal court to dismiss her case to arbitration. The federal court said that BHS could force her to arbitrate because she kept working in her job after BHS showed her its arbitration agreement. When she appealed the federal court’s decision, the appeals court ordered her into arbitration. At arbitration, she lost completely. The arbitrator, a defense counsel, was chosen by process of elimination from the arbitrators’ list, which was composed heavily of defense counsel. The arbitrator didn’t look at the other side. Indeed, according to her lawyer, it was impossible for Fonza to get someone who was in the middle of the road, much less pro-employee. As a result, her claims of discrimination and retaliation were denied, and she got no relief whatsoever.
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Jacqueline Davis
Pasadena, California
On August 1, 2002, Jacqueline’s employer, O’Melveny and Myers Law Firm, distributed to its employees a new Dispute Resolution Program (DRP) that culminated in final and binding arbitration of most employment-related claims by and against its employees. The DRP was presented as a “take it or leave it” option. The firm stated that employees unwilling to sign the agreement must leave the firm within three months. Jacqueline left O’Melveny in July 2003. In February 2004, Jacqueline filed a lawsuit under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) due to failure to pay overtime and denial of rest and meal periods. Her action was dismissed and she was compelled to go to arbitration. On appeal, Davis challenged the enforceability of the arbitration agreement, contending that it is unconscionable under California law. The appeals court found that the arbitration agreement is unconscionable under California law.
Blackwater
Scott Helvenston, Jerry Zovko, Wesley Batalona and Mike Teague
Raleigh, North Carolina
Four American security contractors, employed by Blackwater Security Consulting, were burned, beaten, dragged through the streets of Fallujah and their decapitated bodies hung from a bridge over the Euphrates River on March 31, 2004. Following these gruesome deaths which were broadcast on worldwide television, the surviving family members looked to Blackwater for answers about how and why their loved ones died. Blackwater not only refused to give the grieving families any information, but also callously stated that they would need to sue Blackwater to get it. In January 2005, left with no alternative, the families filed suit against Blackwater. Blackwater filed a counter suit against the dead men's estates and demanded that its claim and the families' lawsuit be handled in a private arbitration. By suing the families in arbitration, Blackwater was attempting to move the examination of their wrongful conduct out of the public eye and the unbiased citizen jury. After Blackwater lost a series of appeals all the away to the U.S. Supreme Court, Blackwater changed its tactics and is now suing the dead men's estates for $10 million to silence the families and keep them out of court.
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