Case Challenges Employees' Waiving Right to Sue
Donald Lagatree was delighted to be offered the job as a legal secretary, except for one provision in the pile of papers that the law firm asked him to sign.

The firm wanted him to sign away his right to file a lawsuit over any employment-rated matter, including any discrimination claim, insisting that such disputes go to arbitration.

When Mr. Lagatree balked, the law firm, Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps, withdrew its job offer.

"I thought it was very unfair," Mr. Lagatree said. "I didn't think I should be signing away what I thought was my right."

That was six years ago. Mr. Lagatree is now at the center of a potentially groundbreaking federal suit contending that the law firm violated civil rights laws by retaliating against him for refusing to sign away his right to sue.

Mr. Lagatree's case addresses one of the most pressing questions in employment law today: Can employers force workers to waive their right to bring employment-related civil rights suits and to accept arbitration instead?

About 8 percent of American workers are bound by arbitration agreements, and the number is climbing because employers view arbitration as less expensive and cumbersome than going to court. But lawyers who represent employees say many aspects of arbitration are not as fair as court trials. For instance, employees in arbitrations must sometimes pay tens of thousands of dollars in legal costs and often face far greater restrictions in obtaining evidence than they would in a court case.

Mr. Lagatree's lawyer, Cliff Palefsky, said the trend toward compulsory arbitration was worrisome. "Civil rights laws have no meaning if you don't have the right to go to court to enforce them," he said.…
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/05/national/05LABO.html