Recent News on the Arbitration Front

Good news, Fair Arbitration fans! Two weeks ago, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Jamie Leigh Jones would have her day in court.  The majority opinion was written by the Honorable Rhesa Hawkins Barksdale, veteran of Vietnam and a graduate of West Point, who was appointed to the Federal bench by President George H. W. Bush. In the opinion, Judge Barksdale writes that the arbitration agreement "certainly stops at Jones’ bedroom door." MotherJones has a good round-up.

Jamie Leigh Jones will be in Washington next week, testifying before the full Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. The topic of the hearing is "Workplace Fairness: Has the Supreme Court Been Misinterpreting Laws Designed to Protect American Workers from Discrimination?" and it will be webcast starting at 10:00 AM.

Yesterday, in honor of Jamie Leigh Jones, Senator Al Franken of Minnesota introduced the "Jones Amendment" to the Department of Defense appropriations bill that would prohibit the use of any Federal funds to any contractor that "requires that employees or independent contractors sign mandatory arbitration clauses." The video of Senator Franken introducing the Jones Amendment is below.