Biden poised to sign into law bill ending forced arbitration in sexual assault, harassment cases

A bill-signing ceremony is scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday at the White House.

“President Biden has long spoken against forced-arbitration clauses in employment contracts, and today marks an important milestone in empowering survivors of sexual assault and sexual harassment and protecting employee rights,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday afternoon.

Critics of forced arbitration say that the practice has served only to further cultures of abuse in workplaces and that the new law would be critical for holding perpetrators of sexual misconduct accountable. About 60 million Americans are subject to arbitration clauses, and many of them do not know it because the provisions are buried in the fine print of their employment contracts.

“We can’t ignore a basic reality of these clauses: They deprive victims of sexual harassment and assault of their basic rights by mandating that they seek remedy only behind the closed doors of private arbitration, with no other alternative,” Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor Thursday morning.

The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, which was first introduced in 2017 by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), was a rare product of bipartisan congressional support. The #MeToo movement helped spur momentum for the bill after more victims spoke out about how they could not sue perpetrators because they had unwittingly signed such clauses.

Last month, the House passed the bill, 335-97; the Senate passed it on a voice vote. Gillibrand touted it then as “one of the most significant workplace reforms in American history,” while Graham defended the bill against some Republican criticism that it would be bad for businesses.

“It does not hurt business to make sure that people who are harassed in the workplace get treated fairly,” Graham said then.

Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson, who was a key proponent of the bill, said in advocating for it that she had been shocked to learn that her employment contract included a forced arbitration clause. Her lawyers initially said the clause meant she could not sue then-Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, whom she accused of sexual harassment.

In November, four sexual assault and harassment survivors testified before the House Judiciary Committee and described how being forced to go through the arbitration process only further traumatized them.

“To this day, whenever my career — my life’s work — is referenced, my accomplishments as an actor are ignored, and I’ve been reduced to being Eliza Dushku who was paid off for ‘allegedly’ being sexually harassed on a TV series,” Dushku, an actress and producer, said in her testimony. “As I hope you understand, this was not the outcome I desired or ever expected, but because of binding arbitration there will never be real justice for me and for countless other victims of sexual harassment.”