Google Ends Forced Arbitration

Forced arbitration has been a sticking point with me for some time. It is an increasingly common practice in many companies to force their workers to sign binding arbitration agreements.

Companies say that this is to reduce the overwhelming costs of litigation (what the heck are you doing to get sued that much), but the real reason is that it tips things heavily in favor of the company who chooses the arbitrator and manages the process.

The other thing that companies like is that it prevents information about bad behavior from becoming public in court filings. Additionally, it prevents class action lawsuits which are a fairly common form of seeking restitution.

I am encouraged to see Google take this step (although not for temps, contractors, and vendors. Hopefully more companies will follow suit. While we are at it, how about changing the laws around non-competes. It has proven to be a successful driver of innovation for the Silicon Valley.