As anticipated, on March 3, 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (“the Act”). As we discussed in a recent blog post, the Act limits the enforceability of U.S. employers’ mandatory arbitration agreements which require that all employment-related claims be arbitrated, rather than litigated. Under the new law, employees may now opt to pursue their sexual assault or sexual harassment claims in court even if they signed an arbitration agreement with their employer that waived their right to do so.
Employers who plan to use or who currently use arbitration agreements may want to consider drafting or revising their agreements to include an express “carve out” for claims of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Please contact your OGC employment counsel for further guidance on this important issue.
Lorna Hebert lhebert@outsidegc.happy-staging.com (617) 512-8401
Trish Lantzy plantzy@outsidegc.happy-staging.com (804) 683-1737
Margaret Scheele mscheele@outsidegc.happy-staging.com (703) 408-4718
Lorna Hebert (New England team) is an employment, labor, higher education, and litigation attorney with nearly 30 years of experience handling a broad range of complex employment and labor matters. Lorna advises clients on a wide range of employment matters, including workplace investigations, dispute resolution, hiring, performance management, discipline, terminations, reorganizations, accommodations, employee benefits, wage and hour issues, discrimination claims, policies and procedures, and training.
Patricia Lantzy (Washington D.C. team) is a labor and employment attorney with almost 30 years of experience. Trish works with a wide range of clients, from individual executives and small businesses to the Fortune 500, on employment-related issues across the employee lifecycle, including recruiting, hiring, workplace harmony and leave issues, performance and discipline/discharge, corporate reorganizations and reductions in force.
Margaret Scheele (Washington D.C. team) is an employment law attorney with almost 30 years of experience. Margaret has represented a range of clients in a variety of industries, including aviation, food service, telecommunications, health care, and government contracting. Her practice includes the full range of advice and counseling work that arises within the employment context, including most recently COVID-related matters.