A judge has ruled that arbitrators in a sex discrimination case against Merrill Lynch can consider the fact that the company was found to have engaged in "a pattern and practice of discrimination" against women. Merrill was trying to prevent women from using these past findings in order to limit damages in unsettled cases.
See "Court Makes Merrill's Past Part of Sex Bias Arbitration", Patrick McGeehan, The New York Times, August 3, 2004