Executory Arbitration (greg)


 Suppose  that you are the HR manager for a company. Following a string of  expensive law suits with former employees, your boss asks you to prepare  a memo articulating whether or not your company should add a new policy  in all employment agreements and employee handbooks which makes  arbitration mandatory for any disputes arising out of employment with  your company. Your boss is interested in reducing both the cost and  public visibility of employment disputes, but she is also concerned  about any legal problems with executory arbitration, including  precedents, as well as any negative PR that might come out of such a  move. Draft said memo thoroughly discussing the options and their  implications. Be sure to address, at minimum, the following: 

  1. What  are the advantages and disadvantages of arbitration as compared with  the status quo of litigation? Are there any other alternatives worth  considering?
  2. Is executory arbitration legal? Are there any circumstances under which such an agreement might not be enforceable?
  3. Even  if it is legal, how are such agreements viewed generally? Are they  perceived as fair among the general public? Are there any potential  repercussions in that respect worth considering?
  4. What  are the implications concerning arbitration in terms of precedent and  privacy? Do arbitration decisions create legal precedent? If so, can  employees disclose information discussed in arbitration hearings to  other parties without the company’s consent, such that it may be used in  subsequent disputes?