On March 3, President Joe Biden gave victims of workplace sexual assault and/or harassment the right to seek recourse in a court of law instead of through forced arbitration proceedings, PBS reported.
Biden signed into law the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, which bars employment contracts from forcing people to settle claims of sexual assault or harassment through private arbitration proceedings instead of in a court of law.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-New York), in a statement, said, "Last November, in one of the most powerful Judiciary Committee hearings I have taken part in, we heard from four survivors of sexual harassment and sexual assault about their devastating experiences and the subsequent arbitration process they were forced to endure as a condition of their employment. … With this bill now signed into law, survivors can bring their stories out of the shadows and pursue the justice they deserve in our courts."
The law is retroactive, freeing individuals who have been bound by arbitration language to pursue legal action against their harassers.
Biden called it a "momentous day for justice and fairness in the workplace."
In February, the legislation passed the U.S. House by a bipartisan vote of 335-97.
