Epic fail: Dem donor betrays her side’s ideals
The Supreme Court just dealt a major blow to the basic rights of workers, with not insignificant thanks to Epic Systems.
Yes, one of the economic engines of liberal Dane County and the brainchild/golden goose of major Democratic donor Judith Faulkner was one of the main drivers behind one of the worst modern disasters in employment law.
In short, Epic was accused of wage theft by a group of its lowlevel quality assurance workers. Recognizing that there’s little chance of finding an attorney to take up cases on an individual basis when relatively little money is at stake, the workers banded together to launch a class-action lawsuit against the software company. Such lawsuits are often the only viable route for workers taking on an employer acting in bad faith.
Epic has been hit with such class actions before, all over stolen wages, including one settled with past quality assurance workers for $5.4 million.
President Donald Trump’s Justice, Neil Gorsuch, delivered the conservative majority opinion in the case, which undoes New Deal era protections in favor of a gross, anti-worker interpretation to what had previously been settled case law. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s minority rebuttal is one of her most scathing, and well worth a read.
Epic argues that the arbitration clause it makes all workers enter into as a condition of their employment means they can’t be sued in court. Arbitration has, in recent years, become the go-to means of settling employment disputes — one that overwhelmingly favors employers.
It’s worth your time to dig into the links above and more about the dangers of relying solely on forced arbitration, and how this decision, in particular, is deeply damaging to the rights of regular workers who simply want to be paid and treated fairly.
What’s extra interesting about this case, though, are the ties it has to a traditionally major backer of Democratic politicians. Democrats, after all, are supposed to be the worker’s rights party, pro-union, pro-collective bargaining, and certainly proclass action.
The billionaire Faulkner has given ten of thousands in donations to both the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. She’s also supported Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, former Sen. Russ Feingold, and President Obama.
Given the extra significance of this year’s midterm elections and the possibility of there being a “blue wave” with the potential to flip the power of Congress, it feels like an especially fraught moment. I can’t, in good conscience, argue in favor of just letting slide such a large affront to worker’s rights.
If anything, this whole episode highlights the need for major campaign finance reform. Publicly funded/shorter campaigns would go a long way toward removing the temptation for politicians and parties to suck up to individual wealthy donors in order to have a shot at being elected. Especially when those donors are actively working against your ethics and goals.
Sadly, the ruling also illustrates how far off the rails a corporation can go when faced with its failings. Rather than fessing up and doing better by its own employees, Epic decided to eviscerate national worker protections.