Arbitration assault.

Business groups are decrying the latest effort by lawmakers to expand the right of employees to sue employers.

Last week, Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, unveiled AB 2371, which would bar employers from enforcing arbitration agreements after a worker files a discrimination or harassment suit. Those arbitration agreements generally say that if an employee files a lawsuit instead of going to arbitration, the employer can fire the worker.

In announcing his bill, Levine said that arbitration proceedings are biased in favor of employers.

"An employer, with far more resources than their employee, will often bear the entire cost for hiring and paying an arbitrator," he said. "Then, the arbitrator is supposed to render an unbiased decision between the defendant, who provides his income and the plaintiff, who is seeking redress from the person who provides his income."

But employer groups oppose the bill, saying this is the first step towards banning the use of arbitration outright.

"This bill effectively bans the use of arbitration," said Michael Shaw, assistant state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, which represents small businesses. "Small employers don't have the ability to fight protracted legal battles, which is why they use arbitration in the first place. This continues the pattern that the Legislature has embarked upon of stripping rights away from employers."

The California Manufacturers and Technology Association also opposes the bill.

Staff reporter Howard Fine can be reached by phone at [phone], ext. 227, or by email at [e-mail].