This hasn't happened so far, that's why it's called Mandatory Arbitration (MA), which means no jury trial. Even her MA was delayed and stone walled by Halliburton, even though it is cheaper, since no jury trial awards can be made for damages. This is an ideal defense for companies with track records of poorly treating both employees and shareholders, like Halliburton.
1) There is nothing to say that a jury trial would have lower damages. Nothing. It is a cheaper and easier process, but that doesn't mean the "victim" gets less.
2) There is nothing to say that Halliburton "has a track record" of treating its employees or shareholders any worse than anyone else. According to the facts here, the US government appears to be responsible for not conducting a proper investigation. If Jones had a prosecution here MA would be a much more lucrative event. If a company has a 'poor track record' the last thing it wants to do is give its employees a cheap way to hold them responsible. Without arbitration the only recourse is to sue the employer. This is much more difficult on every level.
3) There has been no trail. Criminal or otherwise. We have no idea if this girl was actually raped or not. The Dept. of Justice refused to try the case. Why? Because they "don't have jurisdiction"? Sounds fishy to me. She met with an FBI agent and the State Department did an investigation, yet the US has refused to prosecute. Prosecutors avoid cases they can't win, this is to avoid prosecuting innocent individuals. Women make these stories up all the time. The frequency of women lying about sexual harassment, then suing their employer would shock you.
4) The lawyers are circling. The lawyers and their clients are fully aware of the extremely deep pockets of Halliburton. People are always trying to get big companies into court. The lawyers are fully aware that if they can just get enough media pressure there will be a huge settlement.
Halliburton resorted to MA after their ill-advised take-over of asbestos ridden Dresser Industries, which was not fully disclosed to shareholders, under then CEO Cheney. They did this because they had previously lost numerous lawsuits, under the jury trial system at an avg. cost of $200K per.
The MA problem here is secondary to the failure of the government (again) to prosecute properly. If she laid these claims then they need to investigate. Throwing the case to the media, as was done here, just serves as character assassination.
Halliburton can't "resort" to mandatory arbitration. It isn't something they can just elect to do. It is a term in a contract. Either it is in the contract and the employee
agrees to it or it isn't and the employee
agrees to it at a later time. They can't force it on you.
24 months into arbitration Jones still had no resolution, hardly due process by any standard,
Don't talk about things you don't understand. Due process doesn't apply to contracts between private parties.
and certainly not the moral or legal stance the Senate wants companies with large military contracts to take, as evidenced by their 68-30 vote for the Franken Amendment.
Let me get this straight: companies put a clause in a negotiable contract and they are being "immoral"? You understand that arbitration is beneficial to everyone involved?
As to the "legal stance," I have no clue what you are saying. Companies shouldn't be able to shift rights between them and their employees? That is precisely what the Constitution says we can do; and a whole body of contracts law beyond that.
Halliburton has subsequently moved to Dubai. Coincidence?
If they did I would suspect your governments ridiculous corporate tax structure is to blame, then a thousand other things, before you could blame mandatory arbitration.
More info, less opining... make up your own mind, afterwards.
I enjoyed the 20/20 piece. What kind of crap reporting was that? They claim things they never prove, then use the interview of the "victims" as their only basis. That piece was only about character assassination. Who knows what happened or by whom. All we know is what 2 women claim.
Of course some amazing facts came out during the Congressional hearing:
- Jones can't identify, or even claim to know, that she was raped by several men. She says she was unconscious and never saw them. Yet she has named 7 men. This is suspicious at the deepest levels. This was validated by only naming one man in the complaint she later filed. I suspect the lawyers have gotten to her. The more Halliburton employees she accuses the more the jury awards her; justice be damned.
- The man that "raped" Jones told her the next day that he had sex with her. That is not typical behavior of a rapist. That isn't typical behavior of any felon. "Hey, I raped your ass last night. Just thought you'd like to know. Oh, and be sure to use this admission at trial to convict me." That makes perfect sense.
-The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Jones could sue Halliburton. After giving me a lecture on "less opining" you should take time to ponder why you didn't know this fact and how it completely undermines your argument.
Appeals court sends KBR rape case to court | National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) This link also makes me wonder what you meant by "moved to Dubai". I think you have nothing to base that on.
The Injuryboard article is also great. Well, a great example of why journalists shouldn't write about legal matters. That failure to disclose part had me rolling.
Thanks to our joke-of-a-senator Franken we now have an over-broad and unnecessary law on the books that restricts the right of people to contract.
Too bad the company wasn't PETA, then we'd see all the leftists come out defending MA, rape, or anything else.