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-- OriginalOwner_ [tinyurl.com] writes:

from the workers'-rights dept.

The Center for American Progress reports [thinkprogress.org]

Workers cannot be prohibited from bringing class-action lawsuits against their employers, an appeals court panel ruled Thursday, even if the boss makes them sign away that right in order to keep their job.

The case involves Epic Systems, one of the largest medical software companies in America. Founded in the late 1970s, the billion-dollar business only recently began making workers agree to so-called "forced arbitration" clauses in which they forswear their rights to go to court either individually or collectively.

By doing so, the judges found, Epic violated its workers' federal labor rights [nytimes.com][paywall] to take collective action, making the clauses unenforceable.

The decision [uscourts.gov] [Redirects to a PDF] breaks a pattern of appeals courts repeatedly validating such forced arbitration clauses, bringing America closer to a reckoning over a deep and pervasive imbalance of power. Corporations of all kinds could soon lose their ability to tie the little guy's hands and effectively guarantee they'll never face serious legal challenges to potentially abusive business practices.

In addition to Thursday's rejection of arbitration clauses in the workplace, federal regulators are also working to annihilate them from all consumer finance products--the other major area of the law where they hold sway.

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