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Congress recently passed HR 4445, the Ending of Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021, which prohibits the enforcement of mandatory arbitration or joint class action waivers in cases of alleged sexual assault or sexual harassment. Upon President Biden’s signature on March 3, 2022, the law took effect immediately. The legislation […]
The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, which Congress passed on February 10, 2022, lets individuals choose whether to arbitrate or take their sexual assault or sexual harassment claims to court.
A bill being called one of the most significant workplace reforms in decades means many employers will have to change the way they handle sexual harassment claims. The bill, which passed the U.S. Senate on February 10 with bipartisan support, was led by two senators who don’t typically favor the same legislation: Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand […]
The words “and,” “but,” and “or” are conjunctions. In case you’ve forgotten, Schoolhouse Rock taught many of us in grade school that conjunctions link words, phrases, and clauses together to form sentences. But in case you were sleeping in class that day, the Minnesota Court of Appeals recently provided a great crash course when it […]
Viewed as a risk mitigation tool, arbitration clauses are included in employment contracts and policies to route employer/employee disputes to a private forum and outside of the courthouse. Employers are attracted to such clauses because they are believed to be cost-effective and a confidential resolution of claims. As part of the #MeToo movement, however, such […]
The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to all New Mexico employers) recently affirmed the summary dismissal of a sexual harassment discrimination lawsuit against a pipeline construction company and a pipeline operator’s successor-in-interest but sent the related premises liability claim back to the lower court.
Unfortunately, sexual harassment is a reality in workplaces around the world, including advanced Western economies that one might expect to be more progressive. Workplace sexual harassment is also notoriously underreported, due in large part to the stigma that is sometimes felt by the victim, the fear of retribution, and the belief that nothing will be […]
Unfortunately, sexual harassment is a reality in workplaces around the world, including advanced Western economies that one might expect to be more progressive. Workplace sexual harassment is also notoriously underreported, due in large part to the stigma that is sometimes felt by the victim, the fear of retribution, and the belief that nothing will be […]
Employers often make policy changes to address potentially discriminatory conditions. If you hope to use the changes as a defense to future bias claims based on the former policy, however, you must communicate them to your employees. A ruling from the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Arkansas employers) recently reinforced the lesson.
It wasn’t all that long ago when the #MeToo movement took the world (and employers in particular) by storm. The COVID-19 pandemic has since caused management officials to shift their focus, but preventing harassment on the job is as important now as it has ever been. Are you prepared to shut it down or at […]