Arbitration might be the right choice for some cases. Limited discovery rights and costs might be useful when less is at stake. Arbitration might feel less adversarial, which could be an advantage where ongoing relationships are hoped to be preserved. Arbitration lends some confidentiality.
The other unacknowledged motivation behind forced employment arbitration is that employers want to keep disputes a secret. By forcing employees to litigate their disputes in a private setting, corporations can avoid the bad press that accompanies trials.
Arbitration is a private, informal process by which all parties agree, in writing, to submit their disputes to one or more impartial persons authorized to resolve the controversy by rendering a final and binding decision called an Award.
It's typically a clause in a broader contract in which you agree to settle out of court, through arbitration cases, any dispute that arises with your counterpart.
Arbitration agreements require that persons who signed them resolve any disputes by binding arbitration, rather than in court before a judge and/or jury. What is binding arbitration? Binding arbitration involves the submission of a dispute to a neutral party who hears the case and makes a decision.
Some contracts give you the right to opt out of the forced arbitration clause within a certain period of time, often 30 to 60 days, after signing the agreement by notifying the company that you wish to opt out. Check your contract for the deadline and for specific instructions for opting out.
How do you protect yourself when you have one arbitrator who's hearing your dispute instead of a jury trial? One, you need to probably seek legal counsel if you're in a dispute like this. Either the lawyer can help you behind the scenes, guide you through the process or represent you at the arbitration.
Under California law, an arbitration award can be vacated when the award is procured by corruption, fraud, undue means or the arbitrators “exceeded their powers.” As mentioned above, there are very limited rights for any further review of an arbitration decision.
As a general rule, only strong evidence of duress or fraud are sufficient to invalidate an arbitration clause.