FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Democratic Socialists of America – Madison Rebukes the Epic Systems Corp v Lewis Decision
Madison, Wisconsin – May 21, 2018 – Today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Epic Systems Corp v Lewis is a defeat for working Americans and a big win for large corporations. By ruling that employers can contractually obligate workers to forego class action lawsuits in favor of individual arbitration, the Supreme Court has shattered the power workers have to collectively dispute unfair working conditions.
Epic, located in Verona, Wisconsin, illegally classified certain workers as exempt from overtime pay, then expected routine overtime work from those employees. When these workers brought a class action suit for fair pay, Epic used money made by the labor of its employees to pay for lawyers and court fees in a case that will result in worse conditions for working people throughout our country.
The Democratic Socialists of America – Madison (DSA Madison) calls upon Epic and its billionaire CEO, Judy Faulkner, to use their vast resources to compensate employees fairly instead of eroding workers’ rights across the country.
This decision does not just affect Epic employees. We expect all large corporations to force individual arbitration agreements on their employees, because arbitration tends to favor the employer, not the employee.
DSA Madison includes a number of people working in healthcare information technology as well as some current and former Epic employees. We encourage Epic employees to start having conversations with the goal of building collective power. We also welcome Epic employees to join with DSA Madison in building a mass movement to fight capitalism, patriarchy, racism and other oppressive power structures.
Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a member-run and led organization with over thirty thousand members nationwide. DSA Madison works on national efforts, like Medicare for All, and local efforts, like ending systemic racism in Dane County and Madison. We want to take power out of the hands of the wealthy few and build power for the working class, which includes fighting for workers and unions.