A bill has been sent to the president's desk that would ban pre-dispute employment arbitration agreements for sexual-harassment and sexual-assault claims. The House overwhelmingly approved H.R. 4445 in a 335-97 vote on Feb. 7. The Senate passed the measure on Feb. 10, and President Joe Biden is expected to sign the bill into law. Although the bill bans pre-dispute agreements to arbitrate sexual-harassment claims, employees can opt for arbitration after the claim arises. The bill would apply to all new claims, regardless of when the claim arose. This means that if an employer requires an employee to sign an arbitration agreement, and that employee later claims to have been sexually assaulted or harassed, the employee can arbitrate their claim or sue in court. The full text of the proposed bill can be found here: H.R. 4445
John Falcone and Luke Malloy handle employment law matters at PLDR Law. Feel free to contact us if you have questions about this matter.
