Senate passes bill to end forced arbitration in sexual assault, harassment cases
Source: The Washington Post
By: Amy B Wang
Date: February 10, 2021
The Senate passed a bill Thursday that would end forced arbitration in workplace sexual assault and harassment cases, allowing survivors to file lawsuits in court against perpetrators.
The House passed the bill, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, on a 335-to-97 vote Monday. The Senate passed it on a voice vote Thursday morning. It now heads to President Biden to be signed into law.
The bill would nullify agreements between employees and their employers in which the employees waive their rights to sue in the case of sexual assault or harassment. Instead, those agreements require the employees to settle their disputes with an arbitrator.
About 60 million Americans are subject to arbitration clauses, many of whom do not realize it because the provisions are buried in the fine print of their employment contracts, said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who first introduced the bill with Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) in 2017.
“This bill represents one of the most significant workplace reforms in American history,” Gillibrand said Thursday. “It will help us fix a broken system that protects perpetrators and corporations and end the days of silencing survivors. … The arbitration process not only allows the corporations to hide sexual harassment and assault cases in this secretive and often biased process, but it shields those who committed serious misconduct from the public eye.”
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) called the bill “painfully overdue” and said that, for decades, mandatory arbitration “perpetuated cultures of abuse and unaccountability” in workplaces. He added that he had met with Graham and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) in his office Wednesday to get the bill to the finish line and that he appreciated the bipartisan support.
“All of us have heard the searing testimonies of those who have faced harassment or abuse at work, only to discover their jobs offered precious little in accountability,” Schumer said Thursday. “We can’t ignore a basic reality of these clauses: They deprive victims of sexual harassment and assault of their basic rights by mandating they seek remedy only behind closed doors of private arbitration with no other alternative. This is wrong. It is unfair. And it’s about time it changed.”
Before the vote, Graham said he disagreed with arguments that the bill would be bad for business.
“It does not hurt business to make sure that people who are harassed in the workplace get treated fairly,” Graham said. “It’s better for business. So I just want to say, this just shows that we can function up here, that we’re listening to the world as it is.”
To continue reading, click here..