Individual Employment Rights Arbitration in the United States: Actors and Outcomes

The authors examine disposition statistics from employment arbitration cases administered over an 11-year period by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) to investigate the process of dispute resolution in this new institution of employment relations. They investigate the predictors of settlement before the arbitration hearing and then estimate models for the likelihood of employee wins and damage amounts for the 2,802 cases that resulted in an award. Their findings show that larger-scale employers who are involved in more arbitration cases tend to have higher win rates and have lower damage awards made against them. This study also provides evidence of a significant repeat employer-arbitrator pair effect; employers that use the same arbitrator on multiple occasions win more often and have lower damages awarded against them than do employers appearing before an arbitrator for the first time. The authors find that self-represented employees tend to settle cases less often, win cases that proceed to a hearing less often, and receive lower damage awards. Female arbitrators and experienced professional labor arbitrators render awards in favor of employees less often than do male arbitrators and other arbitrators

Comparing Mandatory Arbitration and Litigation: Access, Process, and Outcomes

[Excerpt] What do we know about mandatory arbitration and its impact? Some existing studies have examined samples of employment arbitration cases, usually obtained from the American Arbitration Association (AAA), which is currently the largest arbitration service provider in the employment area. Although some early studies found relatively high employee win rates and damage awards in arbitration, comparable to those in litigation, these results were mainly based on arbitration under individually negotiated agreements or in the securities industry and involved relatively highly paid individuals. More recent studies using larger samples of cases based on mandatory arbitration agreements find much lower employee win rates and smaller damage amounts than typical in litigation. Existing studies, however, have not been able to account for differences in the types of cases that are heard in arbitration. In particular, previous work has not been able to systematically compare outcomes in arbitration and litigation in the same study. In this study, we take a new approach to investigating mandatory arbitration that allows us to do a systematic comparison of arbitration and litigation, accounting for key factors that differentiate between the types of cases brought in these forums. We do this by collecting survey data on a comparable sample of arbitration and litigation cases from attorneys involved in those cases. We also investigate the overall experiences of the attorneys in representing plaintiff employees in mandatory arbitration and litigation. The ability to obtain and finance legal representation is a crucial, yet understudied aspect of the system of enforcement of employment rights. Absent the ability to obtain effective representation, employees may be unable to pursue and win cases even where their statutory rights have been violated. One of the potential benefits held out for arbitration compared to litigation is that it could provide a cheaper, more accessible forum to allow employee claims to be heard and adjudicated. It is certainly the case that existing research indicates many limitations of the litigation system, particularly the relatively poor outcomes obtained by plaintiff employees compared to other litigants. What we are able to investigate empirically in this study is whether mandatory arbitration ameliorates some of the limitations of the litigation system or whether it is equally or even more limited in its accessibility

Epidemiology of HIV in South Africa - results of a national, community-based survey

Objective. To determine HIV prevalence in the South African population and to investigate risk factors for HIV.Methods. A national sample of 10 197 households was selected. One child (aged 2-14 years), one youth  (15- 24 years) and one adult (25 years and older) were randomly selected from each household.  Consenting respondents were interviewed about their socio-demographic characteristics and asked to give an oral mucosal transudate sample to test anonymously for HIV. Differential response rates were  compared using unweighted data. The Orasure HIV-1 device in combination with the Vironostika HIV UNI-Form II plus 0 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits were used to collect oral fluid specimens for HIV testing. HIV prevalence within subgroups was compared using Rao and Scott's adjusted chisquare.Relative risk was calculated using Poisson regression. All analysis was on the weighted data.Results. Of the 10 197 households selected, 7 249 (71.1%) were included in the study. Of the 13 518  individuals selected, 9 963 (73.7%) were interviewed. Of these, 8 428 (62.3%) agreed to HIV testing and had valid results. HIV prevalence in the general population was 11.4% (12.8% in females and 9.5% in males). Blacks had the highest prevalence (12.9%), compared with whites (6.2%), coloureds (6.1 %) and Indians (1.6%). Informal settlements in urban areas had the highest HIV prevalence (21.6%). The findings of this study are consistent with South African Department of Health estimates based on the 2002 antenatal survey.Conclusion. The Nelson MandelaiHuman Sciences Research Council survey included all race, sex and age groups. It is therefore the most reliable and valid source of information on the extent and distribution of the HIV epidemic in South Africa

Anhydrous ammonia application losses using single-disc and knife fertilizer injector

Anhydrous ammonia (NH3) is injected below the soil surface during application to limit loss to the atmosphere. Application at a shallower depth may reduce tractor power or allow greater speed, which could increase field capacity if NH3 losses are held to acceptable levels. Losses of NH3 during, and for 1 h after, field application were measured from a typical knife injector treatment operated at a 15-cm (6-in.) depth and 8-km/h (5-mph) travel speed and from a single-disc injector operated at shallower depths [5 and 10 cm (2 and 4 in.)] and a range of travel speeds [8, 12, and 16 km/h (5, 7.5, and 10 mph)]. NH3 losses during application as measured with a hood over the single-disc injector were 3% to 7% in clay loam, silty clay loam, and loam soils and 21% to 52% in a coarser-textured fine sandy loam soil. Applying with a knife injector at deeper depth resulted in losses of 1% to 2% across all soil types. NH3 losses measured during an hour after application with stationary collection over the injection trench were 1% or less for all treatments. Losses during application were 5 to 55 times greater than during the first hour after application

The Perceived Seriousness of Corporate Crime and Property Crime by Social Class and Exposure to Prison

The problem of this study concerns the perception of the seriousness of corporate and property crime by groups from various social classes and groups with diverse exposure to prison. Hypotheses relating sex, race, age, exposure to prison, and social class to the perceived seriousness of the two types of crime are presented. In order that these hypotheses be tested, the 211 respondents from prison- and the 182 respondents from the general population ranked five corporate and five property crimes according to seriousness. The findings reveal no significant differences by sex, race, and age. Within all social classes and all categories of exposure to prison, no significant differences between the perceived seriousness of corporate and property crimes.exist

Field Evaluation of Anhydrous Ammonia Manifold Performance

Experiments conducted between August 1999 and April 2002 evaluated anhydrous ammonia manifold distribution during field application at 84- and 168-kg N/ha (75- and 150-lb N/acre) application rates. Multiple manifolds including the conventional (Continental NH3 Model 3497, Dallas, Tex.), Vertical-Dam (Continental NH3 Dallas, Tex.), RotaflowTM(H.I. Fraser Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia), Equa-flowTM(PGI International, Houston, Tex.), FD-1200 prototype (CDS John Blue Co., Huntsville, Ala.), and the Impellicone prototype manifold were tested. Temperature and pressure data were collected along the flow path.Results showed high distribution variation by the conventional manifold at both application rates, with average coefficient of variation (CV) values in excess of 16%. At the 84-kg N/ha (75-lb N/acre) rate, all other manifolds tested had significantly lower application variation (. = 0.05). At the 168-kg N/ha (150-lb N/acre) rate, the conventional manifold grouped statistically with the Vertical-Dam with a corn ring and the FD-1200 prototype, producing CV values between 9.5% and 16.2%. All other manifolds had significantly lower application variation. The Impellicone, Rotaflow., and Equa-flow., manifolds performed with the lowest measured variation at both rates, yielding best performance at the 168-kg N/ha (150-lb N/acre) rate with CV in the 6% range.Analysis of recorded temperature and pressure data indicate that NH3 flowing through the system very closely follows the saturation line and acts as a saturated mixture. Predictions of NH3 quality based on calculations of an ideal adiabatic mixture are supported by this result. Investigation for correlation between CV, air temperature, and percent of volume in the vapor phase of NH3 resulted in only a visual trend that may suggest a reduction in CV with lower percent of volume in the vapor phase.Results suggest that replacement of a conventional manifold with a Vertical-Dam manifold or any of the other manifolds tested could reduce application variation between 7.0% and 16.5% at 84 kg N/ha (75 lb N/acre) and 1.0% and 10.2% at 168 kg N/ha (150 lb N/acre). This change could reduce application rate by eliminating the need for over-application to compensate for variations

Reducing anhydrous ammonia application by optimizing distribution

Anhydrous ammonia is one of the most popular ways to fertilize U.S. crops. As it has risen in cost, farmers and researchers have been seeking more efficient ways to apply this nitrogen fertilizer

Application Uniformity of an Impellicone Anhydrous Ammonia Manifold

Since the 1960\u27s anhydrous ammonia (NH) has become the most widely used source of nitrogen (N) fertilizer in agriculture. In fact over 8.1 billion pounds of NH3 is used in the United States every year (Terry and Kirby, 1997). With the cost and wide spread use of NH3 operators are seeking ways to improve uniformity and reduce rates of application. This is because most NH3 tends to be over-applied due to variability in NH3 equipment. Reducing variability will put more money into producers\u27 pockets and reduce the likelihood of N leaching into water supplies. At a cost of $267/ton of NH3, improved application equipment that reduced use in the United States by 5$65 million annually for crop producers (Hanna et al., 2002). A key component of NH3 application equipment that affects uniformity is the distribution manifold. Tests have shown that some outlets on manifolds release two to four times as much NH3 as other outlets. Some knives could be putting on two to four times the desired rate while other knives could be putting on very little NH3 (Fee, 1999). This means that some plants may be getting more N than they can use and others are not getting enough N due to poor distribution by application equipment. In recent years, new manifolds have been tested and produced that improve uniformity among distribution ports

Fertilizer Application: NH, Opener Losses and Uniformity Issues

Anhydrous ammonia (NH3) is injected below the soil surface during application to limit loss to the atmosphere. Application at a shallower depth may reduce tractor horsepower or allow greater speed which could increase field capacity of equipment if NH3 losses are held to acceptable levels. Losses of NH3 during, and for one hour after, field application were measured from a typical knife injector treatment operated at a 15-cm (6-in.) depth and 8 km/h (5 mi/h) travel speed and from a single-disc injector operated at shallower depths (5 and 10 cm (2 and 4 in.)) and a range of travel speeds (8, 12, and 16 km/h (5, 7.5, and 10 mi/h)). NH3 losses during application as measured with a hood over the single-disc injector were 3 to 7% in clay loam, silty clay loam, and loam soils and 21 to 52% in a coarser-textured fine sandy loam soil. Applying with a knife injector at deeper depth resulted in losses of 1 to 2% across all soil types. NH3 losses measured during an hour after application with stationary collection over the injection trench were 1% or less for all treatments. Losses during application were 5 to 55 times greater than during the first hour after application