Real Stories: Fonza Luke
Fonza Luke
Alabama
Fonza Luke started working as a licensed nurse practitioner for Baptist Health Systems (BHS) at its Medical Center in Princeton, Alabama in 1971. For almost 30 years, she received the highest performance ratings from the doctors she worked with everyday.
In November 1997, while attending a meeting of hospital employees Ms. Luke was given a copy of a new "Dispute Resolution Program," which would take effect in January 1998. The program required employees to bring all claims to binding arbitration, effectively giving up their right to go to court. Although threatened with termination if she didn't sign the agreement, Ms. Luke refused.
She remained an employee of BHS but three years later, in early 2001, the hospital fired Ms. Luke after she returned from a continuing education class in Atlanta. The hospital’s human resources director told her that she was being fired for "insubordination" after almost 30 years of working for BHS.
Ms. Luke, African American and 59 years old when she lost her job, filed race and age discrimination claims with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and then in federal court. Ms. Luke argued that the only things she did that were "insubordinate" were things that younger, white employees did all the time without getting fired.
However, the federal court ordered Ms. Luke into arbitration with BHS, claiming that Ms. Luke waived her right to a trial by not quitting BHS when they offered their arbitration agreement.
She lost at arbitration. According to Ms. Luke's lawyer, it was impossible for Ms. Luke to get an arbitrator with the impartiality of judge and jury. The arbitrator was chosen by process of elimination from a list that was heavily composed of lawyers who specialized in defending corporations -– not employees. As a result, Ms. Luke's claims of discrimination and retaliation were denied, and after losing her right to go before a judge, she got no relief whatsoever.
