BREAKING: Law favors employers over employees – even in arbitration

It’s no secret that federal and state law tends to favor employers over employees.  In the beginning, there was at-will employment.  In the end, there will be at-will employment.  But once an employee prevails in a fact finding hearing before a neutral, unbiased arbiter, then the employee can finally rest easy knowing that their efforts have been vindicated, right?

Unfortunately, no.  According to a study by Labor and Employment law researcher Michael LeRoy at the University of Illinois College of Law, employee victories in arbitration are affirmed by state courts 56% of the time while employer victories are affirmed 86% of the time.  This means that an employee’s victory in arbitration is in much greater danger of being overturned than an employer’s victory. 

This creates an additional roadblock for employees.  Besides the expense and lack of leverage most employees have, they now find themselves at greater risk of losing once they’ve won.  For employees, a win is a win except when it isn’t.