By agreeing to submit your claims to Arbitration, you not only give up your Constitutional right to a jury of your peers, but you also lose all the procedural safeguards available in our court system. In the court system, you can request a new judge if you think the one assigned to your case is biased, you can appeal the judge's rulings if you think they are incorrect, and you know the judge isn't interested in the outcome because he/she isn't being paid by the participants and even more interested in being hired by them in the future. In arbitration, one person (or perhaps a panel of three) will decide your case, it's extremely expensive for you because you pay these people by the hour, and these professional arbitrators know if they issue a big verdict against a defendant, they will probably not be hired again.
Thankfully, the injustice of these agreements is becoming more recognized by our elected leaders. In 2008, Senator Mel Martinez of Florida and four Co-Sponsors introduced the Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act (S. 2838). Unfortunately, the powerful nursing home lobby prevented this Bill from becoming law.
Want to help? Contact your representative and ask them to co-sponsor or support the bill referenced above and let them know the importance of protecting our elderly.
