(a message from DFNYC members Dana Northcraft and Michael Minn)

Update 4/1/08: Although hearings were held earlier in the year and the legislation did receive some publicity, the bills do not seem to be getting any momentum, probably due either to a lack of support in the House or because the Republican minority in the Senate (in the absence of a positive agenda) has proven fabulously successful in filibustering everything they don't like. So Arbitration Fairness may have to wait for a more democratic...and more Democratic Congress.

In July of 2005, Jamie Leigh Jones, an employee of Halliburton subsidiary KBR who worked at Camp Hope in the Iraqi Green Zone, claims that she was drugged, brutally raped by multiple KBR firefighters and then held captive in a shipping container for almost 24 hours. Jones managed to call her father in Texas, who then contacted his Congressman, Republican Ted Poe, who called the State Department, who finally dispatched officers from the U.S. Embassy to rescue Jones. Jones was examined by Army doctors, but the "rape kit" mysteriously disappeared after being handed over to KBR security. (ABC News)

All of this would have been horrific enough, but because American contractors in Iraq are being permitted to operate outside of US or Iraqi law, Jones will never be able to pursue criminal charges against her rapists. And, because Jones's employment contract with KBR included a Binding Mandatory Arbitration clause, KBR is arguing that Jones' civil action must be moved into private arbitration, making it very likely that Jones will never get any kind of justice or be able to hold her rapists or employer accountable for their actions. Essentially, KBR is using this clause to cover up the crime.

While this specific case involves multiple layers of outrage and, thankfully, is getting some airing in the court of public opinion, the problems with Binding Mandatory Arbitration clauses are shared by millions of Americans. The Arbitration Fairness Act ( H.R. 3010 / S. 1782) currently being considered by Congress would ban Binding Mandatory Arbitration clauses in employment contracts like Ms. Jones' as well as most other consumer, franchise, and securities contracts.

We encourage you to read more about this issue and then contact your Congresspersons and ask them to cosponsor and/or support the Arbitration Fairness Act.