Sexual Misconduct in the California Workplace: Your Legal Rights
Sexual harassment has been a societal problem forever. In recent years, many victims of sexual assault and sexual harassment in the workplace have been silenced by their employers through arbitration agreements. Arbitration agreements take away of a victim’s right to Court and the use of a jury. Thus, not only is their claim being adjudicated by one adjudicator instead of a jury of their peers, worse, the filing is not public and thus no one ever learns of the employer’s misconduct.
In recent years, the Supreme Court of the United States has made rulings making arbitration agreements valid even if they must be signed to obtain employment. This allows employers to take advantage of their employees’ need for work and lack of legal knowledge to strip them of their voice and force them into a proceeding biased towards corporations.
The rise of the #metoo movement, though, has shed light on this issue. And, one of its biggest achievements has just occurred., which is the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, which was passed, on February 10, 2022. Below is a brief Q&A on the Ending Faced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act:
Q: What is arbitration?
Q: How have companies and employers used arbitration clauses to silence victims of sexual misconduct?
Q: What industries are arbitration clauses most common in?
Q: How does the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act protect victims of sexual misconduct?
If you or a loved one have been a victim of sexual assault or sexual harassment in the workplace, contact us at 323-693-8490 to determine what options you may have.