Our Senior Economic Empowerment Attorney, Seher Khawaja, was featured in a Law 360 article on the bipartisan Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act that was signed into law on March 3rd. The new legislation prohibits employers from forcing employees with sexual assault and harassment claims from going into forced arbitration, instead allowing the workers to pursue these claims in open court. 

"Khawaja noted that many employers already have started to change their policies regarding mandatory arbitration agreements of sexual harassment claims, pay equity and pay transparency because of recent changes in state laws across the country.

"At the same time, I don't think we're seeing those changes happen rapidly enough. And for the most part, employers, I do think need a legislative push to make the shift," Khawaja said. "One of the one of the frustrations is that from our perspective, this type of prohibition should apply to all claims of unlawful discrimination and not just claims of sexual harassment or assault. So, you know, we really hope that employers take a cue from this legislation and move away from mandating forced arbitration more broadly."