United States President Joe Biden on Thursday signed a bill into law that would ban the forced arbitration of cases for sexual assault and harassment, giving victims of workplace abuse the right to seek recourse in a court of law.
The Democrat signed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act to ban employment contracts from forcing individuals to settle sexual assault or harassment claims through private arbitration proceedings.
Ban on Forced Arbitration
Most of the time, employers benefit from avoiding a court of law during sexual assault and harassment cases because it keeps misconduct allegations from reaching the public. The law is retroactive and allows individuals who have been bound by arbitration language to pursue legal action against their harassers.
The Democratic president called the signing of the bill a "momentous day for justice and fairness in the workplace." The U.S. president said that victims of sexual assault or harassment were able to gain the right that they did not have yesterday, as per the San Francisco Gate.
The former Fox anchor, Gretchen Carlson, who worked to ban arbitration clauses since after she sued Roger Ailes, then-CEO of the network, for sexual harassment, attended Biden's signing of the bill on Thursday. She was with four survivors who testified on Capitol Hill in support of the bill and four lawmakers who supported the bill's passage in the House and Senate.
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Before signing the bill, President Biden said that forced arbitration protected perpetrators and silence victims in sexual assault and harassment cases. The Democrat acknowledged that while there are victims who would choose to settle their issue privately, others will want to bring the case to court.
According to CNN, a White House official said that more than 60 million workers are subject to mandatory arbitration clauses in the workplace. They said that the situation comes unbeknownst to the victims when they try to bring a claim against their employer.
Cases of Sexual Assault or Harassment
The president of the United States also said that anywhere between half and three-quarters of all women in the workplace report they have been victims of sexual assault or harassment. Biden noted that the arbitration clauses denied them their voice and a fair chance to get justice.
Carlson said that she attended the ceremony on behalf of the millions of American workers who have, until now, been voiceless against sexual assault or harassment in the workplace. She noted that Biden's new law will prevent bad behavior in the workplace because women's voices can now be heard.
In a statement, Vice President Kamala Harris noted that the passage of the bill into law has gone through a lot to get where it is now. She said that she had been an original co-sponsor of the bill five years ago.
Biden's signing ceremony was also attended by a bipartisan crew, including Kirsten Gillibrand, who co-sponsored the bill in the Senate, and Reps. Cheri Bustos and Pramila Jayapal, who are co-sponsors of the House legislation, The Hill reported.
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