For Immediate Release: April 1st, 2022
Contact: JON CARVALHO

Lift Our Voices co-founders Carlson, Roginsky call on corporations, politicians to end silencing mechanisms in contracts that muzzle employees enduring toxic workplaces at National Press Club this week

Leading #MeToo advocates Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky were guests at this week’s National Press Club’s Newsmakers event

WASHINGTON, D.C. – #MeToo advocates and co-founders of Lift Our Voices Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky delivered remarks and participated in a panel discussion at the National Press Club hosted by the Club’s president Jen Judson on Tuesday, March 29.

The two discussed their recent championing of a new, landmark #MeToo law – signed by President Biden at the beginning of March in a ceremony with Carlson – that is an historic change to labor law and protects millions of American workers from the silencing mechanism of forced arbitration that has been part of employment contracts for decades. The law, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, provides survivors with the choice to seek justice in court and speak publicly without being legally mandated to remain silent and use the secret arbitration process, which often favors abusers.

In their remarks at the National Press Club, Carlson and Roginsky discussed the groundbreaking #MeToo legislation and their personal experiences that led them to found Lift Our Voices and advocate on behalf of fellow survivors.

Carlson explained why ending forced arbitration is such a powerful and effective change to U.S. labor law.

“Arbitration is a secret process where the deck is stacked against the employee from the get-go,” said Carlson. “Only 2 percent of all arbitration cases actually go to arbitration, and of those 2 percent, only 2.5 percent of the time does the employee actually win. More women than men are bound by arbitration, more African Americans than anyone else, and 65 percent of all people making minimum wage.”

Roginsky said that determination is key to Lift Our Voices’ advocacy.

“There are women out there who won’t curl up in the fetal position when they are told to shut up and go away,” said Roginsky. “Even when a team of lawyers threatens them. Even when a team of enablers tries to discredit them. Instead, we will act on our beliefs and work like hell to make sure that no other person ever goes through what we went through again. […] And when powerful organizations or politicians want to take on women, they should consider that our life experiences may give some of the us the courage to understand that even one individual person can stand up to power and that toxic entities – whether they are superpowers or media executives or politicians – can only keep the people in their power quiet for so long, until the dam breaks.”

Roginsky also detailed efforts to silence her and prevent her from protecting survivors while working on the campaign of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.

Both Carlson’s and Roginsky’s remarks along with a panel discussion with Jen Judson, president of the National Press Club, can be viewed here.

ABOUT LOV

Lift Our Voices was launched in December 2019 to create positive, systemic change in American workplaces through the eradication of nondisclosure agreements for toxic work issues and mandatory arbitration clauses. Created and launched by Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky, and Diana Falzone, LOV’s mission is to protect American workers by giving those in toxic work environments the freedom to speak freely about their workplace experiences and free them from the laws and business practices that prevent employees from publicly discussing toxic workplace conditions.

For more information on Lift Our Voices, visit https://www.liftourvoices.org/ and visit their Facebook and Twitter pages.