So Bonnie Eslinger reports in Law360’s American Arbitration Assoc. Accused Of Pro-Corp. Monopoly. The plaintiffs claim violations of state and federal antitrust laws. Here are the first two paragraphs of the complaint:
This case is about the predatorial behavior of an arbitration association in its attempt to race to the bottom of the barrel of justice to corner the market on consumer arbitrations. The cost of this injustice to consumers throughout the country cannot be understated. Through practices that include cut-rate pricing on arbitrations that do not adequately reflect the actual cost of neutral proceedings, rules that encourage corporations to provide only one choice in arbitral forums by disallowing discovery into corporations tactics, and shockingly abysmal outcomes for consumers, the American Arbitration Association, Inc. (“AAA”) has obtained over 90% of the consumer arbitration market and created an illegal monopoly in consumer arbitrations. AAA’s monopoly harms competition and consumers by ensuring consumers have no choice in choosing between arbitration forums or even what arbitrator AAA assigns them.
As a result, consumers who have valid claims, retain counsel, and file a claim in the AAA lose 73% of the time nationally and in North Carolina and 89% of the time in West Virginia, for instance. In fact, a consumer would have to be desperate given to their opponents. In all the arbitrations consumers filed in West Virginia, consumers have been awarded only $5,915 after final hearings. However, businesses in consumer filed West Virginia arbitrations have been awarded $60,840 – ten times the amount awarded to consumers.
