The Widespread Use of Workplace Arbitration Among America’s Top 100 Companies
By Professor Imre S. Szalai
Judge John D. Wessel Distinguished Professor of Social Justice
Loyola University New Orleans College of Law

The ability to access courts is disappearing for workers in America because arbitration clauses have permeated the majority of the leading companies in America. Personal injury claims, wage claims, civil rights claims, sexual assault claims, and other claims involving the workplace and vulnerable workers may never be heard in a public court, with broad procedural protections for employees, because of the use of arbitration clauses.  Further, through the use of class waivers, it is impossible for employees to join together in a class or collective action against their more powerful and far better-resourced employers.

This report examines the use of arbitration agreements in the workplace by the top 100 largest domestic United States companies, as ranked by Fortune magazine. These companies are the most successful, powerful companies in America, with combined annual revenues totaling over 7.6 trillion dollars according to Fortune magazine.

The key findings of this study are as follows:

• 80 of the top 100 largest companies in America, including subsidiaries or related affiliates, have used arbitration agreements in connection with workplace-related disputes since 2010.
• Of the 80 companies with arbitration agreements in the workplace, 39 use arbitration clauses containing class waivers.
• Over half of the companies in the Fortune 100 appear to have imposed forced arbitration clauses on workers; such workers did not have a meaningful choice to accept or reject the arbitration clause.

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Addendum – Forced Arbitration: A Race To The Bottom

More on Forced Arbitration in the workplace.