Not since activist Tarana Burke launched the #MeToo movement in 2006 have survivors of workplace sexual misconduct had a year like 2022. Two of this century's most significant labor changes, both signed into law in the last eight months, have finally given workers experiencing sexual assault and harassment the right to publicly hold their abusers accountable.

Survivor-activists across the nation have led the effort to pry loose the culture of silence that has, for too long, covered up the most egregious workplace toxicity. Through the use of forced arbitration and non-disclosure agreements, employers have consistently prevented workers subjected to sexual misconduct, discrimination and retaliation from discussing their experiences with colleagues or loved ones — or even with therapists or clergy members. In this way, organizations have consistently protected predators at the expense of survivors, who are often forced to leave their jobs and even their chosen careers for no other reason than that they are the targets of unacceptable behavior.

This is why the past year has been such a watershed for millions of workers across our country. On Dec. 7, President Joe Biden signed our Speak Out Act, which bans pre-dispute NDAs for survivors or witnesses of sexual assault or harassment. This bipartisan legislation will begin to address the epidemic of sexual misconduct that has consistently been swept under the rug by employers who would rather pretend it does not exist.

Last March, the president signed our Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, which prevents employers from muzzling survivors, as forced arbitration keeps them from exercising their right to seek justice in the courts. By 2024, more than 84% of all American workers will be bound by forced arbitration, ensuring that a secret chamber will adjudicate their complaints without anyone ever finding out. With this law, survivors of sexual misconduct will be able to exercise their 7th Amendment right to a trial by jury.

Together, these two bills represent not only the most significant changes to American labor law this century but are also the first national legislative victories of the #MeToo movement. During a time of increased political polarization, both garnered overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress. 

And for Biden, they mark a promise kept. In early 2020, our nonprofit organization, Lift Our Voices, asked every presidential candidate to support our mission to ban NDAs for toxic workplace issues. While several candidates on both sides of the aisle refused, then-candidate Biden was the first Democrat to join our cause. 

The silencing epidemic plaguing the American workplace is still dire. As many as 60 million Americans are bound by forced arbitration and a third are bound by NDAs. While these clauses affect everyone, from hourly wage workers to C-Suite executives, they are particularly prevalent for women, workers of color and those earning a minimum wage. 

Worse yet, many workers do not even realize they are unable to speak out about the toxicity they have experienced or witnessed, with some NDAs so draconian that no one is even allowed to acknowledge that they exist.

The laws that Lift Our Voices shepherded through Congress last year exist because political leaders on both sides of the aisle agreed with our simple proposition: predators should never be protected at the expense of survivors. Giving workers the power to disclose unacceptable behavior exposes it to the light of day. It is the disinfectant toxic organizations need. 

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

Getting to this point was not always easy.

In 2017, when we first embarked on our efforts to eradicate silencing mechanisms for workplace toxicity, Harvey Weinstein was still a respected film producer and many of the horror stories we now know about corporate executives, political leaders and others were still buried from view. It is thanks to the sheer bravery of survivors who dared to speak out at great personal cost and to the hard work of the president and of members of Congress on both sides of the aisle that we are here today. 

Our work is just beginning. There is still much more to do to end the epidemic of workplace sexual assault and harassment, as well as all forms of discrimination and retaliation. But those who thought the #MeToo movement was a flash in the pan and that Americans would eventually just move on have been proven wrong.

The movement is here to stay — and so is the notion that muzzling survivors and witnesses to workplace toxicity is fast coming to an end. 

Gretchen Carlson is a journalist, bestselling author and internationally recognized advocate for women’s rights whose bold actions against workplace harassment at Fox News helped pave the way for the global #MeToo movement. Julie Roginsky is a political consultant and advocate of women’s rights, who sued Fox News for sexual harassment and retaliation. Together, they are co-founders of the nonprofit Lift Our Voices, dedicated to eliminating forced arbitration and NDAs for toxic workplace issues.

BY GRETCHEN CARLSON AND JULIE ROGINSKY, JANUARY 5TH, 2023