AAJ Statement and Press Call on SCOTUS Decision in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant

SCOTUS decides corporations can grant themselves a license to steal and violate the law

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Jun 20, 2013, 01:59 ET

WASHINGTON, June 20, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from American Association for Justice (AAJ) President Mary Alice McLarty on today's U.S. Supreme Court ruling in American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant:

"Today's Supreme Court decision is a major blow to America's consumers, employees and small businesses. The Supreme Court ruled that corporations can use the fine print of contracts to grant themselves a license to steal and violate the law.

"It is imperative that Congress and federal agencies act to protect individuals and small businesses from the abusive practice of forced arbitration. Without Congressional action, all federal and state civil rights, employment, antitrust, and consumer protections are at risk of being wiped away by the fine print."

WHAT:	Press call on SCOTUS decision in American Express v. Italian Colors
WHEN:	TODAY, Thursday, June 20, 2013, at 2:30 p.m. EDT
WHO:	Michelle Schwartz with the Alliance for Justice
	Julia Duncan with the American Association for Justice
	John Vail with the Center for Constitutional Litigation
	Eric L. Cramer President of the Committee to Support the Antitrust Laws (COSAL), Board Member of the American Antitrust Institute, and a Managing Shareholder of Berger & Montague, P.C.
	Paul Bland with Public Justice
CALL-IN #:	1-800-434-1335; Conference Code: 189786#

Background

In AmEx v. Italian Colors, the Court decided that corporations can force small businesses and individuals into arbitration even when it can be proven that they will not be able to vindicate their rights through arbitration.
In this case, small businesses were seeking to hold AmEx accountable for violating federal antitrust laws.
The small businesses alleged that AmEx is violating antitrust laws with a tying arrangement by using its monopoly power over charge cards to force merchants to take all AmEx-branded credit cards and pay higher fees.
AmEx's merchant contracts require individual forced arbitration to resolve disputes. AmEx's arbitration clauses also do not allow merchants to shift or share the expenses of arbitrating a claim with other merchants.
The small businesses presented ample evidence to the court to show that the costs of an individual arbitration would have been many times more than the possible maximum amount of damages that each would recover. The costs of a single antitrust market study necessary for each arbitration claim could exceed $1 million, while each claimant's potential damages would be no more than a few thousand dollars.
If small businesses are forced to try to resolve this dispute in individual arbitration, they will not be able to effectively vindicate their rights and AmEx will be allowed to get away with widespread wrongdoing.

Federal Laws at Risk

Age Discrimination in Employment Act
Americans with Disabilities Act
Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1991
Credit Repair Organizations Act
Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act
Electronic Fund Transfer Act
Equal Pay Act
Fair Credit Reporting Act
Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
Fair Labor Standards Act
False Claims Act
Family and Medical Leave Act
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (amending the Military Lending Act)
Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act
Right to Financial Privacy Act
Sarbanes-Oxley Act
Securities Act of 1933
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
Sherman Antitrust Act
Telephone Consumer Protection Act
The civil provisions of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
Truth in Lending Act
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)

As the world's largest trial bar, the American Association for Justice (formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) works to make sure people have a fair chance to receive justice through the legal system when they are injured by the negligence or misconduct of others--even when it means taking on the most powerful corporations. Visit http://www.justice.org.

SOURCE American Association for Justice