Press Release: Congress Passes Second Landmark #MeToo Bill This Year
For Immediate Release: November 16th, 2022
Media Contact: JON CARVALHO
PRESS RELEASE:
Congress Passes Second Landmark #MeToo Bill This Year
Two laws championed by Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky will protect millions of workers
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Speak Out Act was passed into law after a bipartisan vote of 315-109 in the House of Representatives. The legislation, which unanimously passed the Senate in September, prohibits the use of predispute nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) in cases of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace.
Along with the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in March 2022, the Speak Out Act is landmark #MeToo legislation that makes the American workplace safer for survivors.
Both bills are the culmination of many years of advocacy by Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky, co-founders of the nonprofit Lift Our Voices.
The legislation, expected to be signed by President Biden, ensures that workers cannot be prevented from disclosing that they experienced or witnessed sexual assault or harassment in the workplace, even if they signed a nondisclosure agreement prior to when the abuse took place. Employers routinely use NDAs and other silencing mechanisms to prevent survivors and witnesses from disclosing toxic workplace experiences, enabling and protecting abusers.
Thanks to the advocacy of Carlson and Roginsky, the President signed legislation earlier this year to ban on the use of forced arbitration in cases of sexual assault and harassment. Like the Speak Out Act, it passed with strong bipartisan support.
“We are proud to have worked with Congress to pass two of the most significant labor laws in decades, all in the span of one year,” said Gretchen Carlson. “It shows that members of both parties can come together in support of common-sense legislation to protect millions of workers, and will help end the silencing of survivors of workplace abuse.”
“The Speak Out Act is another milestone in our efforts to make workplaces safer,” said Julie Roginsky. “It is an enormous step forward in ending the culture of silence that has prevented survivors and witnesses of workplace abuse from sharing their stories and it will go a long way toward ending the culture of toxicity that permeates too many workplaces.”
The Speak Out Act was co-sponsored by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Representatives Lois Frankel (D-FL), Cheri Bustos (D-IL), Ken Buck (R-CO), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), David Cicilline (D-RI), Morgan Griffith (R-VA), and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).
“The Speak Out Act will change the culture of the workplace making it healthier and more productive,” said Congresswoman Frankel. “Today, one-in-three workers is subjected to NDAs that hide sexual misconduct in order to protect a business’s reputation. By making predispute NDAs null and void as they pertain to sexual abuse we’re taking the gag off of survivors and pushing businesses to create safer work environments. We’re proud of the bipartisan support the Speak Out Act received in both chambers and look forward to President Biden signing this critical bill into law.”
“Today, the House voted to strengthen workplace protections and guard against the use of predispute NDAs in sexual harassment and sexual assault cases, which are often used to coerce silence,” said Senator Gillibrand. “Earlier this year, we voided forced arbitration agreements for sexual assault and sexual harassment, and the Speak Out Act is the important next step in our mission to reform our workplaces for the better. I urge President Biden to sign this bill into law expeditiously so we can fix this broken system and help end the days of institutional protection for perpetrators.”
“Today’s passage of the Speak Out Act in the House of Representatives marks another critical step in protecting survivors of sexual assault or sexual abuse in the workplace who are too often silenced by predispute NDAs,” said Senator Blackburn. “I thank Gretchen Carlson, Julie Roginsky, and Lift Our Voices for their work to help get this legislation across the finish line and to President Biden’s desk.”
“After facing sexual assault or harassment, no American should find that they unknowingly signed their rights away,” said Congresswoman Bustos. “Today, I was proud to help send bipartisan legislation to President Biden that will free survivors from silencing nondisclosure agreements. With this bill and my recently-signed law to end forced arbitration for victims of sexual assault and harassment, survivors in America are regaining critical rights.”
ABOUT LOV
Lift Our Voices (LOV) was launched in December 2019 to create positive, systemic change in American workplaces through the eradication of forced arbitration clauses and nondisclosure agreements for toxic workplace issues. Created and launched by Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky, LOV’s mission is to protect American workers by giving those in toxic work environments the freedom to speak openly about their workplace experiences and free them from the laws and business practices that prevent employees from publicly discussing toxic workplace conditions.