4 Supreme Court Rulings Show Which Way the Wind Is Blowing: Corporations Are Getting What they want

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/us-supreme-court-furthers-corporate-assault-america

4 Recent Supreme Court Rulings Show Which Way the Wind Is Blowing: Corporations Are Getting Whatever They Want


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1. Arbritration yes, trial by jury no! In American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant, the Court majority held that signing a contract with an arbitration agreement precludes the right to a jury trial. This case involved a restaurant chain that didn’t want to pay American Express’ high fees for a services it didn’t use, but had signed a contract. The Court took AmEx’s side, saying a "bad" contract is still a contract, pushing more individuals and small businesses outside the legal system. That ongoing trend favors corporate power, as individuals and small businesses lose access to lawsuits.

2. Generic drug takers can’t sue? In this complex case decided Monday, the Court ruled that if you are taking a generic medication lacking warning labels and you have a bad reaction, you can’t sue the generic drug maker. “If you were prescribed the brand-name drug’s generic copy—which public policy has favored for three decadess—your suit against the generic manufacturer is kaput. Got that?” wrote Brian Wolfman, on Public Citizen’s Consumer Law and Policy blog. “Another loss for injured consumers' access to the courts .”

3. Co-worker harassment—forget suing! In an employment case also decided Monday, the Court’s right-wing majority held that an employee cannot sue her employer if she's harassed at work by a co-worker. Instead, she can only sue the employer if the hostility is created by a supervisor—which is not the same as a bossy and harassing colleague.

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4. Racial harassment at work—prove it! In another workplace retaliation case decided Monday, an Arabic doctor who claimed that his new supervisor at a Texas medical center was racially prejudiced and forced him to quit, saw his civil rights lawsuit sent back to a lower court with new and tougher instructions for proving racial discrimination.