Understanding the Effect of Arbitration Agreements on the EEOC’s Right to Bring Claims for Victim-Specific Relief Under the ADA

Date

2003

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Texas Tech Journal of Texas Administrative Law

Abstract

This article is designed to provide an understanding of how the FAA affects the powers of the EEOC under the ADA and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, it addresses the effect that employment arbitration agreements have on the EEOC’s right to bring an employment discrimination claim for victim-specific relief under the ADA, as well as the reasons for and against precluding the EEOC from seeking such monetary relief. Further, it provides background on two conflicting U.S. Supreme Court decisions dealing with arbitration agreements as bars to employment discrimination claims, and the coverage of subsequent circuit splits on the issue of whether the EEOC should be precluded from seeking “make whole” relief where the aggrieved employee has signed an arbitration agreement. It concludes with analysis of EEOC v. Waffle House, Inc. and its impact on employment discrimination law in Texas.

Description

Keywords

Federal Arbitration Act, FAA, American with Disabilities Act, ADA, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Texas Commission on Human Rights, TCHR, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, EEOC, EEOC v. Waffle House, Inc.

Citation

4 Tex. Tech J. Tex. Admin. L. 69