I’ve said it before — mandatory arbitration of employment claims is no panacea
A while back (6/11/04), Law.com carried this story from The Recorder: “$3.5M ADR Award Against 24 Hour Fitness Unsealed” (by Alexei Oreskovic)
Requiring employees to signing agreements to arbitrate all claims arising out of their employment sounded great to many people for a number of reasons.
Two of the reasons arbitration was considered so wonderful: 1) avoiding runaway jury awards (surely arbitrators would not award millions in punitive damages); and 2) confidentiality (not in open court; not a matter of public record).
I always had my doubts.
And now this case comes along.
Health club giant 24 Hour Fitness was hit for $3.5 million for sexual harassment in a private arbitration decision that was unsealed Friday in Contra Costa County Superior Court in California [$1.18 million compensatory damages; $1.25 million punitive damages; $1.1 million attorney fees].
The unsealing of the arbitration award and the details of the case, from a forum favored by businesses precisely because of its confidential nature, gave the plaintiffs cause to cheer. . .
“The expectation on the part of the company, and I think most of the employees that go through this process, is that it be confidential,” said Garry Mathiason, a partner at Littler Mendelson who represented 24 Hour Fitness for part of the case.
The company was interested in keeping the case confidential because of privacy concerns for employees named in the case who were not parties . . .
[not that the company was concerned about its reputation, you understand]
The fight culminated with a 12-page decision by arbitrator Barbara Chvany, who said that 24 Hour Fitness had no compelling reason to keep the award under wraps. “The fact that an arbitration proceeding is private, in the sense that the public has no right to access and does not finance the proceeding, does not mean there are legal grounds to seal the record in its entirety, thereby preventing a party from disseminating information concerning the proceeding,” . . .
Littler’s Mathiason said he respected the finality of the arbitration decision although he feels the arbitrator got it wrong and that the damages awarded are dramatically out of proportion to what the plaintiff suffered. Read more
Additional problem with arbitration: no judge to decide a summary judgment motion, thereby keeping the case from that “runaway jury” or “goofy arbitrator” and no Court of Appeals to turn to when the decision is “wrong” and damages are “dramatically out of proportion”
Well Mr John Romeo will be seeing more of this again…. This kind of stuff goes on still at 24 hour fittness and I hope everyone that has had this done to them will go get an ATT and fight back….
Trust me if you have worked or know this company the harrasment continues..
I guess 24 hour could not cover this up
Way to go John Romeo!!!! I promise you will have more soon
ANyone who has important information on Adam Loew or John ROmeo, please contact me at lhevan@hotmail.com
Maybe John Romeo can come out of the closet. He gives his director of loff prevention short frank lucanturo a blow job. ALso he is dating this gay Irvine PD cop named Joe Monroe, another short asshole, gay fag
Yeah I heard about that gay cop named Joe Monroe, he is major short asshole and a deadbeat father (he is closest queer, who fucks sgt bill whalen, who wife is too busy fucken the whole neighborhood) Bill Whalen is a major dushbag