FOLLOW UP – Monopoly Man at Equifax Senate hearing!

Published:

October 9, 2017

FOLLOW-UP POST!

Late last week, CANVAS wrote about the ‘Monopoly-man’ protest. Activist and consumer protection advocate Amanda Werner performed the stunt to raise awareness about forced arbitration clauses and their effects on consumers. Vice Magazine contacted Werner and gave her a platform for a more detailed explanation about the message behind the method.

Werner’s aim was to achieve more than just a laugh with her actions. “Equifax and Wells Fargo are using these arbitration clauses as a way to [to use another Monopoly reference] get out of jail free, and deny consumers justice,” she told VICE. Before her appearance in the hearing went viral,  Public Citizen and Americans for Financial Reform already distributed mocking “get out of jail free cards” on Capitol Hill, symbolizing how forced arbitration lets banks get away with wrongdoing.

Werner describes how she needed to find a balance between catching the camera’s and not crossing the line of what was still acceptable surrounded by Equifax execs and representatives. “I was getting a lot of dirty looks, and folks were very uncomfortable with the fact that I was in the room,” Werner told VICE. “I think honestly they kept waiting for me to do something that was going to get me kicked out, but luckily I did my homework, I knew what I was allowed to do and not do.”

Where her attendance made a big impact, kicking her out in the middle of the hearing might have raised even more eyebrows. Dilemma-action in its prime! Read the full Vice Magazine-article here.

Photo: Amanda Werner/ Twitter – via www.cbc.ca