President Biden has signed H.R.4445, known as the “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021”, into law. The law amends the Federal Arbitration Act to state that, at the election of the person alleging conduct constituting sexual harassment or sexual assault, or the named representative of a class or in a collective action alleging such conduct, no predispute arbitration agreement or predispute joint-action waiver will be valid or enforceable with respect to such cases as filed under federal, tribal, or state law. The law further provides that any dispute as to the applicability of H.R.4445 will be determined under federal law and in court, rather than by an arbitrator, regardless of whether the arbitration agreement purports to delegate the authority for such decisions to an arbitrator.
The Act does not prevent employers from requiring arbitration of other types of disputes, nor are employees and employers prevented from voluntarily agreeing to arbitrate sexual harassment or sexual assault claims once the alleged events have taken place and the claims have been made.
In light of this important development, employers should consider revising the provisions of any arbitration agreement to comply with the new law.
This blog is presented under protest by the law firm of Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP. It is essentially the random thoughts and opinions of someone who lives in the trenches of the war that often is employment law–he/she may well be a little shell-shocked. So if you are thinking “woohoo, I just landed some free legal advice that will fix all my problems!”, think again. This is commentary, people, a sketchy overview of some current legal issue with a dose of humor, but commentary nonetheless; as if Dennis Miller were a lawyer…and still mildly amusing. No legal advice here; you would have to pay real US currency for that (unless you are my mom, and even then there are limits). But feel free to contact us with your questions and comments—who knows, we might even answer you. And if you want to spread this stuff around, feel free to do so, but please keep it in its present form (‘cause you can’t mess with this kind of poetry). Big news: Copyright 2021. All rights reserved; yep, all of them.
If you have any questions about this article, contact the writer directly, assuming he or she was brave enough to attach their name to it. If you have any questions regarding this blog or your life in general, contact Kelly O. Scott, Esq., commander in chief of this blog and Head Honcho (official legal title) of ECJ’s Employment Law Department.
- Partner
Kelly Scott is a partner and head of the firm’s Employment Law Department.
Mr. Scott is also a member of the Litigation Department and has practiced law since 1987. His areas of practice include representation of employers in all ...
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