When kay baker was a top executive with JCPenney in 1995, she agreed to appear in a company video praising the retail giant's new plan for dealing with termination complaints. To avoid lengthy and expensive trips to court, Penney would pay 95 percent of the bill for an outside arbitrator to evaluate the claims. The decision would bind both parties. Baker thought it sounded like a good deal for employees who couldn't afford a lawyer. Then, a year later, Penney fired the 46-year-old Baker, stripping her of $300,000 in stock options. Believing herself a victim of both age discrimination and sexual harassment, she tried to take the company to court.
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