Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Levinson on Labor Arbitration of Employment Claims
Ariana Levinson (Louisville) has just posted on SSRN her article (forthcoming U. Michigan J. Law Reform, 2013) What the Awards Tell Us About Labor Arbitration of Employment Discrimination Claims. I'm fairly certain this is the first study of its kind. Here's the abstract:
This article contributes to the debate over mandatory arbitration of employment discrimination claims in the unionized sector, which, in light of the proposed prohibition on union waivers in the Arbitration Fairness Act, has significant practical implications. Fundamentally, the article is about access to justice. The article examines 160 labor arbitration opinions and awards in employment discrimination cases. The author concludes that labor arbitration is a forum in which employment discrimination claims can be and, in some cases, are, successfully resolved. Based upon close examination of the opinions and awards, the article recommends legislative improvements targeting statutes of limitations, compulsory process, remedies, class actions and, in certain cases, discovery, the standard of review, and a union’s duty of fair representation.
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https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/laborprof_blog/2012/03/levinson-on-labor-arbitration-of-employment-claims.html
This is a very nice, balanced study. I recommend it to anyone interested in the intersection of ADR and employment discrimination law. As always when dealing with arbitration awards, it is difficult to generalize because there are so many arbitrators with different skills and no hierarchical authority. Nevertheless, she makes fair and reasonable evaluations of the cases. There is much more work to be done in that field, and I hope that Ariana will continue to do it.
Posted by: Dennis Nolan | Mar 13, 2012 9:05:34 AM