The U.S. House passed H.R. 4445, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, which would allow sexual harassment and sexual assault survivors to elect to file a case in a court of law rather than be subject to mandatory, pre-dispute arbitration (“forced arbitration”) provisions.
Forced arbitration clauses are ubiquitous and often buried in fine print of employment paperwork. The majority of non-union employees in the private sector have signed away their rights through forced arbitration clauses.
Orlando Representative Val Demings supported H.R. 4445 through the Judiciary Committee and held a hearing on the topic last November.
“As a former 27-year law enforcement officer, I am appalled by the use of forced arbitration to silence survivors of criminal sexual harassment and assault,” Rep. Demings said. “Forced arbitration creates a criminal culture where powerful people in powerful places view their colleagues and subordinates as targets, not human beings. We voted to end these predatory practices which silence survivors and protect the powerful. This legislation is about justice, and it is about accountability. Everybody counts, and everybody is – or should be – accountable.”
Professor Myriam Gilles of Cardozo School of Law observed, “forced arbitration is not an alternative regime for resolving claims, it is a means of suppressing legal claims altogether.” Judge William G. Young, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, stated that the proliferation of these arbitration clauses means that “business has a good chance of opting out of the legal system altogether and misbehaving without reproach.” A coalition of 50 state attorneys general have noted that this perpetuates “a culture of silence that protects perpetrators at the cost of their victims.”
H.R. 4445 is supported by a coalition of survivors of sexual harassment or assault and their allies, including the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the National Network to End Domestic Violence, RAINN, and the Sexual Violence Prevention Association, among others. It is also supported by numerous public interest and advocacy organizations, such as Public Citizen and the American Association of Justice.
