Consumer Fairness in Financial Industry
Family fights to sue Bank of America after Waltham man’s suicide:
Many investors unknowingly sign away their right to sue.
The Boston Globe
March 13, 2011
After years of carefully investing, 65-year old Grossman commits suicide after losing nearly half a million dollars of his life savings. The family expresses shock that the right to sue Bank of America was signed away when Grossman opened his account. Despite a battle to have their day in court, the family’s only alternative is arbitration. Even complaints of “extreme cases alleging wrongful death” must go to arbitration according to a Supreme Court decision in 1987.
President Obama and other Government officials are questioning the fairness of arbitration to consumers. This case demonstrates an anecdotal yet powerful example of how the arbitration system is sometimes “woefully inadequate” and can often appear “unfair to investors.’’
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