Professors Sachs and Zatz on the NFL Players’ Protests

In a recent op-ed piece in the New York Times, The Law is on the N.F.L. Players’ Side, Professors Benjamin Sachs (Harvard) and Noah Zatz (UCLA) comment on the relevance of the National Labor Relations Act to the discussion about the N.F.L. players’ demonstrations during the performance of the national anthem.

Blogs Comment on U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Nursing Home Arbitration Agreements

Calling it an “unsurprising” decision,  Sarah Cole at Indisputably commented on the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kindred Nursing Centers v. Clark, No. 16-32 (May 14, 2017). The Court reversed a holding by the Kentucky Supreme Court refusing to enforce two arbitration provisions executed by individuals holding powers of attorney, because the power-of-attorney documents did not specifically mention arbitration or the ability to waive the principals’ right to trial by jury.  The US Supreme Court held that the state court’s holding violated the Federal Arbitration Act by singling out arbitration agreements for disfavored treatment.

Mandatory Pre-dispute Arbitration Agreements Between Nursing Homes and Residents Banned

In a recent article on Sept. 28. 2016, the NYT reports on a recent rule issued by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services banning nursing homes receiving federal funding from requiring residents to sign pre-dispute arbitration agreements.  (U.S. Just Made it a Lot Less Difficult to Sue Nursing Homes). Arbitrator Lise Gelernter (NAA Member) comments on the rule.  Expanding on the NYT’s coverage, Arbitrator Gelernter’s comment makes clear that “the agency had no quarrel with the institution of arbitration per se, but rather with the abuses associated with the use of pre-dispute arbitration agreements.” *** In one part…

Developments in Interest Arbitration

In a Letter to the Editor published July 31, Arbitrator and former NAA President, Richard I. Bloch, responds to “Unions kill a smart arbitration proposal in Montgomery County” (The Washington Post’s editorial published July 28). The Post’s editorial attributed the wage increases experienced by public employees in Montgomery County in part to “an out-of-whack arbitration system … tilted in favor of public-employee unions,” noting that over the last 28 years, unions have prevailed in 80 percent of the disputes.   The editorial blames the concern that arbitrators have with being “blackballed by the unions” for these one-sided results.

Brogan Responds to NYT’s Article on Secrecy in Arbitration

(Note: Below is the text of a Letter to the Editor that Margaret Brogan, President of the NAA sent to the New York Times in response to an article about the ongoing dispute between Gretchen Carlson and Roger Ailes). Re:  Gretchen Carlson’s Fox News Contract Could Shroud Her Case in Secrecy, July 13, 2016 This article is misleading.  By failing to differentiate between types of arbitration, it paints a broad and negative brush over all arbitration.  Without commenting on Ms. Carlson’s individual agreement, that dispute resolution scheme is not Labor Arbitration, which is a product of a mutual agreement between management and…

Girvan, Deason and Borgida on Implicit Gender Bias on Labor Arbitration Decision

In an article published in Law & Human Behavior,  and for which the NAA Research and Education Fund provided financial support, Professor Erik Girvan (Oregon Law), Grace Deason (Wisconsin-La Crosse) and Eugene Borgida (Minnesota) explore the presence of gender bias on labor arbitration decisions. Brief Summary In The Generalizability of Gender Bias: Testing the Effects of Contextual, Explicit, and Implicit Sexism on Labor Arbitration Decisions, Girvan, et. al, begin by noting that while prior studies about how arbitrators’ attitudes influence their decisions have determined that arbitrators’ decisions are influenced by their values and political ideology, none has explored…

Respected Law Professor Blog reflects on NYT’s arbitration series

Professor John Lande writing on”Indisputably, the Dispute Resolution Law Professors Blog” reacts to the New York Times articles on arbitration,  citing to the work in progress of Bob Bailey, Gil Vernon and Rafael Gely on journalism and arbitration.

NAA member publishes Op-ED in LA Times: “Quit bashing arbitration”

Read the full LA Times Op-ED here: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-1109-goldman-arbitration-20151109-story.html

NAA Members react to NYT arbitration articles

Three NAA members independently registered comments with the New York Times in response to the newspaper’s articles on arbitration. Published letters to the editor came  from former NAA President Theodore J. St. Antoine, professor emeritus and Dean at the University of Michigan Law School, and Lise Gelernter, faculty member at the SUNY Buffalo Law School, about a recent series on arbitration: Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/04/opinion/forcing-consumers-into-arbitration.html?_r=0 Professor St. Antoine’s letter stated the following: “Re “Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking Deck of Justice” (“Beware the Fine Print” series, front page, Nov. 1): Properly administered by the American Arbitration Association, JAMS or other reputable body, arbitration before a private neutral party is cheaper, faster,…

NAA responds to New York Times

Re: “Brutalized Behind Bars in New York State” (Ed., Sept. 30)Labor arbitration has a long and honorable history of peacefully resolving labor disputes. Labor arbitrators typically are neutrals selected by both parties and decide cases based on evidence presented at the arbitration hearing and the collective bargaining agreement.It is an urban legend that labor arbitrators often “split the baby”, as alleged in your editorial. The Code of Professional Responsibility adopted by the National Academy of Arbitrators, which was established in 1947, prohibits compromise by an arbitrator for the sake of attempting to achieve personal acceptability. As experienced practitioners in the…