How Arbitration Favors Employers
Arbitration is favorable over going to court because both parties can avoid the fees associated with legal battles in court. However, this is only the case in situations in which the arbitration can be neutral and completely unbiased with regard to both parties. This is not the case when an employee is suing their employer. In such cases, arbitration will almost always favor the defendant employer. Nearly every attorney who represents working people in employment cases will agree that arbitration agreements are not the best choice for employee plaintiffs. Although your Lakeland employment attorney will review the specifics of your case before making a decision about what is the best route for you, chances are that he or she will ultimately agree that it is in your best interest to avoid arbitration.
Employment arbitration favors employers for several reasons. One reason is that employers are repeat players. The system has an inherent conflict of interest. The same defendant employer may have more than one employment arbitration, but a plaintiff employee will have just one. If the arbitrator wants to be hired by the employer for future arbitration, he or she will avoid granting too large an award to the plaintiff employee.
What To Know About Arbitration
Additionally, in arbitration, the parties lose their right to appeal. The majority of arbitration agreements cannot be challenged at all, even in a court of law. This presents more harm to the employees because they lose more arbitrations than employers, even with the aggressive assistance of a Lakeland employment attorney.
Another reason why arbitration favors employers is because the parties are not permitted to the same discovery rights as they are in court. This presents a major disadvantage for the employee because the employer usually has control of the documents, witnesses and other evidence the employee’s attorney needs in order to build a strong case.
Lastly, arbitrations are less favorable to plaintiff employees because arbitrators look at employment cases from a different point of view than a jury would. And this point of view tends to be more in favor of the employer, who is generally the party that pays the arbitrator’s fees and hires the arbitrator for future arbitrations.
Get More Information From An Attorney
For further information regarding how arbitration will affect your case against your employer, please contact an experienced Lakeland employment attorney at the law firm of Smith, Feddeler & Smith, P.A., at 863-336-6927. You can also fill out the online contact form.
