Why Goldman Sachs Prefers Arbitration

When Goldman Sachs was sued (in 2010) for gender-discrimation, the bank sought to settle the dispute through arbitration rather than through the court system.  The present rules of arbitration do not favor women, employees or consumers.

The advantages of arbitration for Goldman  are:

1)  "the women are not likely to win in arbitration;"
2)  the culture of Wall Street is predominantly male and the Old Boys' Network is alive and well;
3)  powerful law firms represent "the stronger and wealthier party;"
4)  there are limited avenues for appeal;
5)  discovery can be more limited;
6)  arbitration awards "are not directly enforceable;"
7)  arbitration may cause "huge legal expenses;"
8)  incentives "to rule against the consumer or employee" is rife.

Will Goldman Sachs Celebrate Its Latest Victory at a Strip Club?
By Margaret Carlson - Bloomberg

Goldman Sachs won a huge victory yesterday. A federal court ruled that Lisa Parisi, a former managing director, must take her gender-discrimination lawsuit against the firm to arbitration.

With the ruling, Parisi -- who had sued Goldman in 2010, along with two other women -- can kiss her chances of victory goodbye. Arbitration is where plaintiffs' dreams go to die, which is probably why it was in her Goldman Sachs employment contract.

These plaintiffs aren't renegade feminists. They're mainstream financial types who played by the rules and hoped to reap the rewards. The men who fought them are simply corporate types who prefer to keep Wall Street an old boys' club.

Read the whole article here