美国国家公共电台 NPR Supreme Court Decision Delivers Blow To Workers' Rights

 

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Today the U.S. Supreme¹ Court delivered a sweeping² victory to American business and an equally sweeping defeat to American workers. The court gave the green light to employers who want to bar their workers from bringing class-action suits in court as a condition of employment. The vote was 5 to 4. NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg reports.

NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE³: The conservative majority upheld and extended the growing practice adopted by American businesses, namely requiring workers to agree as a condition of employment not to go to court over wage and hour disputes but to instead submit their claims to binding⁴ arbitration⁵ individually. Today the justices added that employers may bar class-action suits in court as well. Employment lawyers were elated.

Lawyer Ron Chapman, who represents management in labor⁶-management disputes, said he expects small and large businesses alike to immediately move to impose these binding arbitration contracts in order to eliminate the fear of costly⁷ class-action verdicts from juries.

RON CHAPMAN: It gives employers the green light to eliminate their single largest employment law risks with the stroke of a pen.

TOTENBERG: Many workers don't even know that they've waived⁹ their rights to go to court as a condition of employment. Indeed, the lead plaintiff in the case was an IT worker at Epic¹⁰, the giant health care software development company. He got an email notifying all employees that they would be barred from joining any workplace class-action lawsuit¹¹. By clicking that they received the notice, it turned out he was agreeing to the contract as a condition of continued employment.

The Epic workers as well as junior accountants at Ernst & Young and employees at a Murphy Oil gas station went to the National Labor Relations Board contending that such class-action bans were a violation¹² of federal law. That law guarantees the rights of workers to engage in activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or any other concerted activities. The NLRB agreed with the workers in 2014, as did the Obama administration Justice Department. But the Trump¹³ administration reversed that decision and sided with the employers when the case was argued in the Supreme Court.

Today Trump appointee Neil Gorsuch, writing for the court majority, said that provision of the 1935 Labor Act that the workers rested their case on is clearly trumped¹⁴ by the Federal Arbitration Act that was enacted¹⁵ 10 years earlier. He said that Congress never intended a provision aimed at collective bargaining in the union context to guarantee workers the right to bring class actions in court.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in a rare oral dissent¹⁶ from the bench, called out the majority for what she said was an egregiously¹⁷ wrong decision. The court endorses¹⁸ nothing more than an arm twisted, take-it-or-leave-it agreement forced upon employees, she said. She noted¹⁹ that the workers' claims are usually small. Indeed, she noted that the typical Ernst & Young employee would likely have to spend $200,000 to recover only $1,800 in overtime²⁰ pay.

For this reason, she said, relatively²¹ few workers avail themselves of the arbitration option, and many are fearful of retaliation²². The inevitable²³ result of today's decision, she added, will be huge under enforcement of federal and state laws designed to advance the well-being²⁴ of vulnerable workers. It's up to Congress, she said, to correct the court's action now.

Labor law experts said today's decision likely will present increasing problems for the #MeToo movement and for other civil rights class actions claiming discrimination based on race, gender²⁵ and religion. There's no transparency in most binding arbitration agreements, and they often include non-disclosure provisions. Yale law professor Judith Resnik observes that today's decision applies to all manner of class actions.

JUDITH RESNIK: What this says is that when you buy something, use something or work for someone, that entity²⁶ can require you to waive⁸ your rights to use public courts.

TOTENBERG: Cornell labor law professor Angela Cornell expects the number of these litigation waivers to skyrocket now.

ANGELA CORNELL: What we see is the privatization of our justice system.

TOTENBERG: Nina Totenberg, 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 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

3 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。

4 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

5 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。

6 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。

7 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

8 waive   

vt.放弃，不坚持(规定、要求、权力等)

参考例句：

• I'll record to our habitat office waive our claim immediately.我立即写信给咱们的总公司提出放弃索赔。
• In view of the unusual circumstances,they agree to waive their requirement.鉴于特殊情况，他们同意放弃他们的要求。

9 waived   

v.宣布放弃( waive的过去式和过去分词 )；搁置；推迟；放弃（权利、要求等）

参考例句：

• He has waived all claim to the money. 他放弃了索取这笔钱的权利。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I waived the discourse, and began to talk of my business. 我撇开了这个话题，开始讲我的事情。 来自辞典例句

10 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

11 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。

12 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

13 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

14 trumped   

v.（牌戏）出王牌赢（一牌或一墩）( trump的过去分词 )；吹号公告，吹号庆祝；吹喇叭；捏造

参考例句：

• That woman trumped up various baseless charges against him. 那个女人捏造种种毫无根据的罪名指控他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Several of his colleagues trumped up a complaint to get him removed from the job. 他的几位同事诬告他，使他丟掉了工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

16 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

17 egregiously   

adv.过份地，卓越地

参考例句：

• But previous Greek governments egregiously violated those limits. 但之前几届希腊政府都严重违反了这些限制。 来自互联网

18 endorses   

v.赞同( endorse的第三人称单数 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• There isn't one country in the Middle East that now endorses the Eisenhower Doctrine. 但至今没有一个中东国家认可它。 来自辞典例句
• Whether any of this truly endorses Dr Patel's hypothesis is moot. 这些视频能否真正证明帕特的假设成立还是个未知数。 来自互联网

19 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

20 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。

21 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

22 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

24 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

25 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

26 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。