In an investigative report published this morning, the New York Times reveals the extent to which individual consumers have become victims of corporate legal maneuvering.
Corporations, as the Times puts it in its headline, are "stacking the deck of justice."
On Page 5 of a credit card contract used by American Express, beneath an explainer on interest rates and late fees, past the details about annual membership, is a clause that most customers probably miss. If cardholders have a problem with their account, American Express explains, the company “may elect to resolve any claim by individual arbitration.”
Those nine words are at the center of a far-reaching power play orchestrated by American corporations, an investigation by The New York Times has found.
By inserting individual arbitration clauses into a soaring number of consumer and employment contracts, companies like American Express devised a way to circumvent the courts and bar people from joining together in class-action lawsuits, realistically the only tool citizens have to fight illegal or deceitful business practices. ...NYT
And, just so you don't toss this off as incendiary garbage, just remember that Supreme Court chief justice, John Roberts, formerly a corporate lawyer, was a major player in smoothing the path for corporations.