Congress passes landmark sexual harassment arbitration bill, Biden to sign

Congress has sent the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act to President Joe Biden’s desk. The video above includes clips from the Senate floor and a news conference after the bill was passed in the Senate. The bill, which President Biden is expected to sign, prevents employers from forcing people who experience sexual harassment at work to settle cases through arbitration rather than in court.

“This bill is one of the most significant workplace reforms in the last 50 years and is a major step forward toward changing a system that uses secrecy to protect perpetrators and silence survivors,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said in a statement regarding the Senate’s passage of the bill Thursday. “It will give survivors their day in court, allow them to discuss their cases publicly and end the days of institutional protection for harassers.”

The passage of the sexual harassment arbitration bill was a rare showing of bipartisanship. Sen. Gillibrand introduced it back in 2017 alongside Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-KY), Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-IL) and former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson. The bill passed in the Senate Thursday by unanimous consent, which is almost never used for significant legislation. The House vote was 335-97.

“I’m very pleased the Senate has now joined the House of Representatives in passing this important legislation and sending it to President Biden’s desk to sign into law,” Sen. Graham said. “The days of sexual harassment and sexual assault cases being buried in unfair arbitration clauses are now over.”

In addition to the bipartisan nature of the sexual harassment bill, it is also seen as a major milestone of the #MeToo movement. Five years ago, Carlson accused the now-deceased Fox News CEO Roger Ailes of making unwanted advances and harming her career when she rejected him. At the news conference, Carlson said she could never have imagined she would help pass a law that both Democrats and Republicans would get behind.

“A dear friend of mine said to me back then, ‘You know, Gretchen, something good is going to come out of this,’” Carlson said. “I didn’t really see it that way at the time, but it turns out she was right.”