After five years of the #MeToo movement, the U.S. Senate approved a legislation that makes it easier for victims of sexual assault and harassment in the workplace to come forward.
The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault Act, approved February 10, prohibits companies from forcing employees to resign their rights to go to an open court and sign a confidential arbitration agreement instead. The legislation also allows victims to join class action lawsuits over sexual and harassment claims.
President Joe Biden showed support for the bill, and the measure will take effect as soon as he signs it. However, the bill is not retroactive, meaning that any case settled before the change will not be affected.
Advocates for sexual assault victims say that the forced arbitration hurts accountability and prevents such allegations from becoming public, as reported by Yahoo. The measure limits the legal options for employees such as not allowing the chance to appeal, and often are very costly for them.
Experts estimate that over 60 million Americans are under this clause in their contracts.
The legislation was inspired by the #MeToo movement. In 2017, Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand along with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham started the bill when thousands of women across different industries started to come forward with sexual assault allegations.
A few companies responded at the time. Wells Fargo became the first major financial institution to end its forced arbitration policy for employee sexual harassment claims, as reported by the New York Times. The big techs also joined in: Airbnb, Microsoft, Google and Facebook removed their clause after internal pressures.
However, the practice is still popular with big companies. Cases closed on forced arbitration jumped 17% in 2020 over 2019, according to a report from the American Association for Justice.
Critics say there is still work to be done to protect the victims. The approved bill only address sexual harassment and sexual assault cases and doesn’t cover other employment disputes, such as those based on discrimination and wages violations. The forced arbitration clause is used in various employment and consumer contracts.
A few lawmakers tried to propose a broader law, but they were pushed back by Republicans and business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Defenders say the forced arbitration helps avoid the costs and the long process of litigation.
Low-wage workers and sectors disproportionately made up of Black and women workers are more commonly under forced arbitration contracts, according to Reuters. While the two main arbitrator providers in the U.S. are for-profit enterprises, 77% of their arbitrators are male, and 88% are white, according to the American Association for Justice.
Workers with a formal education are more likely to benefit from the legislation, said Patti Perez, a sexual harassment prevention expert, to CNN. “That doesn’t mean that I don’t think this is a valuable piece of legislation. I just think that it is a little pie-in-the-sky to think that it’s gonna solve all of those problems” related to power dynamics in the workplace.
