Washington Post: Senate passes bill to end forced arbitration in sexual assault, harassment cases

The Senate passed a bill Thursday that would end forced arbitration in workplace sexual assault and harassment cases, allowing survivors to file lawsuits in court against perpetrators.

The House passed the bill, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, on a 335-to-97 vote Monday. The Senate passed it on a voice vote Thursday morning. It now heads to President Biden to be signed into law.

The bill would nullify agreements between employees and their employers in which the employees waive their rights to sue in the case of sexual assault or harassment. Instead, those agreements require the employees to settle their disputes with an arbitrator.

About 60 million Americans are subject to arbitration clauses, many of whom do not realize it because the provisions are buried in the fine print of their employment contracts, said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who first introduced the bill with Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) in 2017.