Congress approves bill to end Forced Arbitration Clauses in employment-based sexual assault cases
Forced arbitration clauses are practically everywhere. They’re found in the fine print of all sorts of contracts — when you open a bank account, when you sign up for a cell phone plan, when you move into a nursing home, and so on.
Most of the time you have no choice but to agree to these clauses. They’re in contracts presented by giant companies on a “take it or leave it” basis — either you sign the contract as drafted by the company, or they won’t provide you with the service you want. You can try to find another company that provides the same service, but their contracts will probably also have an arbitration clause.
These clauses deprive you of your day in court. When a company has violated the contract or the law, has harmed you financially, physically, or otherwise, these clauses force you to bring your dispute within the arbitration system. You won’t have the court’s robust discovery tools or procedural rules, that are there to help you discover the truth and to protect you from abuse by the other side. Your dispute will be decided by an arbitrator rather than a judge or a jury of your peers. And generally the arbitrator’s decision is “binding,” meaning you won’t have the ability to appeal the result.
Although arbitration clauses are generally enforceable, Congress has taken one small step toward invalidating them in one limited context — employment-based contracts where the employee has been the victim of sexual assault or harassment. Introduced five years ago, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act has finally been approved by both the House and the Senate, and awaits signature by President Biden.
Now for all those other forced arbitration clauses, too….
