美国国家公共电台 NPR No Class Action: Supreme Court Weighs Whether Workers Must Face Arbitrations Alone

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The Supreme¹ Court is considering a case that could have a dramatic effect on the workplace. Currently, if a worker wants to bring a claim against their employer - anything from harassment² and discrimination to unpaid³ wages - they have to do so through individual arbitration⁴. That means they have to make their case on their own. Now the Supreme Court will decide whether it's legal to prevent workers from banding together. NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports.

YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE⁵: Nearly a decade ago, 15 women who worked for Sterling⁶ Jewelers started complaining that they'd been denied pay and promotions⁷ given to male counterparts. At that time, they weren't aware of each other's complaints - why? - because they had all signed paperwork agreeing such complaints could only be heard in private arbitration.

JOE SELLERS: Most of them had no way of knowing that the others had similar disputes because that was all kept confidential⁸.

NOGUCHI: Joe Sellers is the women's attorney. A key point, he says, is that those agreements did not explicitly⁹ prevent them from joining forces. That meant they could pool resources, hire experts and retain attorneys they couldn't have secured on their own. That case now covers an entire class of 69,000 current and former female Sterling employees and will be heard next spring. Sellers says if the Supreme Court allows employers to block workers from collective arbitration, it would hurt plaintiffs like his in future cases.

SELLERS: They will have no benefit of being able to work together, collect evidence together, see that there's evidence of a pattern of conduct - which was very important to them in being able to prove their claims and in leading a numbers of them to realize they were not alone. And without it, I think many of them would have simply abandoned their claims because it was either too risky¹⁰ or too expensive or too hard.

NOGUCHI: Employers from tech giants to retail¹¹ and restaurant chains include prohibitions¹² on collective workplace arbitrations¹³. By one estimate, as many as 25 million American workers may have signed such agreements, whether they realize it or not. Workers advocates say these agreements undermine a key tenet of labor¹⁴ law, which has long protected collective workplace action. They argue employers should not be able to nullify that by inserting a clause in some paperwork. Ceilidh Gao is an attorney for the National Employment Law Project, a workers rights group.

CEILIDH GAO: Most workers in the United States aren't even aware of what arbitration is, never mind that they've signed this kind of agreement, maybe on their first day at work in a stack of papers or maybe through clicking a box through their orientation¹⁵ materials.

NOGUCHI: Gao says most workers drop their cases instead of going it alone, which means employers aren't forced to correct systemic workplace violations¹⁶. David Seligman, a Seattle attorney representing low-wage workers, agrees.

DAVID SELIGMAN: For many folks, if you don't have the opportunity to act together in a lawsuit¹⁷ against your employer, you're never really going to file a lawsuit at all.

NOGUCHI: Employers argue individual disputes are resolved faster and cheaper. Harry¹⁸ Johnson III is a former Republican member of the National Labor Relations Board who represents employers. He says class action claims are often abused, giving a single worker the power to claim they're bringing the dispute on behalf of others.

HARRY JOHNSON III: If that claim gets aggregated¹⁹, then that person, regardless of the merits of the case, instantly has a much more valuable case. So that's why class procedures are a big deal.

NOGUCHI: Employer groups also argue these agreements are contracts that the labor board cannot invalidate. Linda Kelly is general counsel for the National Association of Manufacturers.

LINDA KELLY: There's a bigger issue at stake here, and that is the reach of the NLRB and whether or not it has the authority to reach down into employment contracts to this degree.

NOGUCHI: If the employment agreement is signed by the worker, they say, a contract is still a contract.

Yuki Noguchi, NPR News, Washington.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

3 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

4 arbitration   

n.调停，仲裁

参考例句：

• The wage disagreement is under arbitration.工资纠纷正在仲裁中。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding.双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。

7 promotions   

促进( promotion的名词复数 )； 提升； 推广； 宣传

参考例句：

• All services or promotions must have an appeal and wide application. 所有服务或促销工作都必须具有吸引力和广泛的适用性。
• He promptly directed the highest promotions and decorations for General MacArthur. 他授予麦克阿瑟将军以最高的官阶和勋奖。

8 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。

9 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

10 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

11 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

12 prohibitions   

禁令，禁律( prohibition的名词复数 )； 禁酒； 禁例

参考例句：

• Nowadays NO PARKING is the most ubiquitous of prohibitions. 今天，“NO PARKING”（禁止停车），几乎成了到处可见的禁止用语了。
• Inappropriate, excessive or capricious administration of aversive stimulation has led to scandals, lawsuits and prohibitions. 不恰当的、过度的或随意滥用厌恶性刺激会引起人们的反感、控告与抵制。

13 arbitrations   

n.仲裁，公断( arbitration的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• By November last year, it was administering 120 arbitrations that were conducted in the region. 截至去年十一月，该秘书处分处处理的区内仲裁个案有120宗。 来自互联网
• She was the labor relation specialist, and handled all grievances, and arbitrations for the region. 作为劳工关系专家，她负责处理该地区所有的申诉和仲裁。 来自互联网

14 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

15 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

16 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

17 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

18 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

19 aggregated   

a.聚合的，合计的

参考例句：

• He aggregated her to a political party. 他吸收她参加一政党。
• The audiences aggregated a million people. 观众总数达100万人。