for Suffolk County - Mass Cases

When an employer says, "waive your c. 1518 rights or
you're fired," how can that not be considered interference
with rights'? The peril facing Simmons was plain on the
contract's face. App. 78. Consequently, Joule interfered
with Simmons' in hex enjoyment of rights when it
specifically stated that she would be rejected in the
absence of a waiver. To enforce the arbitration agreement
under t.he circumstances would encourage Joule and other
employers to continue their Lawbreaking campaigns of
threats and intimidation.
C. COMMON LAW SKEPTICISM OF PROSPECTIVE WAIVERS OF CIVIL
RIGHTS
In addition to §§ 4(4A) and 8, there i s yet another
source of public policy that invalidates the arbitration
agreement. The comon law has long expressed a healthy
skepticism of prospective waivers other civil rights. This
skepticism bolsters the finding that the mandatory, forced
waiver of section 5 rights violates public policy.
As a society, we allow claimants to release rights
after a claim axises, but not before, because a pre-dispute
release diminishes deterrence to lawbreakers, and raises
issues of unfairness. D. Schwartz, "Enforcing Small Print
to Protect Big Business:
Employee and Consumer Rights
Claims in an Age of Compelled Arbitration, 1997 Wis. L.
Rev. 33, at 105, 110-113, 117-118. We would not tolerate,
for example, the state requiring applicants to
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