Editor’s note: To view the signed letter as a printable PDF, click here.
On Wednesday, February 14, 2018, Congresswoman Cheri Bustos highlighted a letter signed by all 56 Attorneys General, from all 50 States, Territories, and the District of Columbia. It called for the passage of legislation “to protect the victims of sexual harassment in the workplace.” The letter specifically requested Congress “ensure these victims’ access to the courts, so that they may pursue justice and obtain appropriate relief, free from the impediment of arbitration requirements.”
An estimated 60 million Americans are subject to forced arbitration clauses. According to the letter from the Attorneys General, “these [mandatory arbitration] clauses typically are presented in boilerplate ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ fashion by the employers. As a consequence, many employees will not even recognize that they are bound by arbitration clauses until they have been sexually harassed and attempt to bring suit.”
That’s why in December 2017, Congresswoman Bustos introduced the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Harassment Act of 2017. It would allow survivors of sexual harassment or discrimination, who are subject to forced arbitration clauses in their contracts, to opt out and instead take their cases to court.
Bustos started working on this legislation a year ago, after reading an article in the Washington Post alleging that Sterling Jewelers, the parent company of Jared the Galleria of Jewelry, Kay Jewelers, and Zales Jewelers, was able to sweep hundreds of sexual harassment complaints under the rug, through forced arbitration clauses in contracts. As has been detailed in many recent sexual harassment scandals, by avoiding a public airing of grievances, survivors have been silenced; predators have continued climbing the corporate ladder; new employees have entered workplaces that they never could have known were rife with abuse.
For months, Bustos worked with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to build a broad, bipartisan coalition to support her bill. In December, she introduced it with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand who is leading this effort in the Senate. They were joined at a press conference by their partners in this effort, including Senator Lindsey Graham, Congressman Walter Jones, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, and Gretchen Carlson.
“One of the most effective ways we can root out sexual harassment in the workplace is by ending forced arbitration agreements….I want to thank all of our Nation’s Attorneys General for giving us a major boost in this effort,” said Congresswoman Cheri Bustos. “Democrats and Republicans are coming together, behind our effort to remove the veil of secrecy that protects predators and silences survivors, because Americans are demanding change. I want to thank all of my partners in the House and Senate for joining us in this effort. But I especially want to thank everyone in the #MeToo movement, for making their voices heard. We have made tremendous progress, but we need to keep pushing to get a vote on this important legislation.”