The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act will help ensure sexual misconduct survivors can take cases to court

WASHINGTON, DC – In an effort to empower sexual assault and harassment survivors, make workplaces safer, and hold sexual predators accountable, the U.S. Senate today passed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act.  This bipartisan legislation will eliminate obstructions to justice for sexual assault or sexual harassment survivors by giving them the decision to take their case to court or go to arbitration.

The bill, which cleared the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday by a vote of 335-97, now goes to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law.

“This is a significant win for workers and a safer workplace.  It will hold perpetrators accountable, serve justice, and ensure that sexual predators can’t use forced arbitration to shield their gross misconduct,” said Senator Reed, a cosponsor of the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (S. 2342).  “For too long, the system has been stacked against victims of sexual misconduct, shielding companies and perpetrators from true accountability.  We’re correcting an injustice here, which is an important step to changing the culture that enables sexual assault and harassment to persist.”

Forced arbitration is a way of settling a case outside of the legal system, and it often favors the corporation or employer over the plaintiff.  Forced arbitration clauses are often tucked into the fine print of contracts such as employment agreements.  The signers are then forced to resolve disputes or cases using a closed-door arbitration instead of in an open setting in court with greater procedural protections.  And the process can be expensive for employees who may be forced to split costs of arbitration proceedings with their employer.  In some cases, these costs can be as high as $2,000 per hour.

Under the new law, the forced arbitration clause would be voided for incidents of sexual misconduct and survivors would be better able to pursue justice in the courts and publicly share their stories.

The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act will ensure equal protection and public accountability under the law and eliminate institutional protection for harassers.

The bipartisan legislation was sponsored in the U.S. House of Representatives by Cheri Bustos (D-IL), Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), and Ken Buck (R-CO).  It was led in the U.S. Senate by Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA).