Seventy-five percent of US companies in eight industries use forced arbitration. In most cases, consumers are stripped of their right to go to court over disputes when they open a bank or credit card account, obtain cell phone service, hire a stockbroker or buy a house. The same is true when consumers buy computers or obtain cable or Internet service. "Even though forced arbitration has been exposed as grossly unfair to consumers," said David Arkush, director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch division, "This means that millions of Americans have been stripped of their right to hold corporations accountable in court." Forced arbitration requires consumers to settle disputes before secretive, private tribunals instead of courts. A 2007 Public Citizen report revealed that arbitrators working for the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) had ruled against consumers 94 percent of the time. Consumer advocates have long alleged that forced arbitration is unfair because it undermines corporate accountability and deprives people of core protections against corporate wrongdoing.
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