U.S. consumers were dealt a huge blow by the U.S. Supreme Court, who ruled that corporations may use arbitration clauses to prevent dissatisfied consumers or disgruntled employees from joining together and filing a class action lawsuit. Keller Grover LLP and other consumer and employment attorneys are now sounding off about the controversial ruling, stating this decision will likely have widespread ramifications for all U.S. consumers and employees, who seemingly won’t be able to receive justice in a court of law as a result.

On Wednesday, April 27, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision, that the Federal Arbitration Act of 1925 is superior to all state laws and court rulings, and arbitration clauses must be enforced even if they may be unfair under state law. This decision essentially allows companies to exempt themselves from any class action lawsuits that wronged consumers or employees may bring against them.”This is going to become a real David vs. Goliath battle in many cases throughout the state of California. Individual customers and employees have no chance against major corporations who have an abundance of resources to protect themselves. Consumers will likely be pushed along and not receive the justice and/or compensation as they would as a group in a class action lawsuit,” asserted Eric Grover.

Consumers, like California couple Vincent and Liza Concepcion, who sued AT&T over an alleged “free phone” that actually cost $30.22 for sales tax on the phone, are now the victims of such arbitration clauses. The plaintiffs attempted to join a class-action suit against AT&T Mobility, but the company said they would have to go to arbitration as individuals. AT&T claimed their cell phone contract prohibited them from filing class-action claims, the Los Angeles Times reported. California federal judges agreed with the Concepcions by ruling that AT&T couldn’t enforce their ban on class-action claims against them. But, the Supreme Court reversed, allowing AT&T to continue utilizing the class action ban. “Companies are now creating a safety net to shield them from accountability through the fine print of the their contracts; which specifies if there is a dispute, arbitration would be used and class action lawsuit could not be filed in connection with the alleged dispute,” explained Grover. “In the end, its only the consumers and employees who will be hurt by the Supreme Court’s decision,”