A bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from all U.S. states (including Connecticut) and territories this week urged Congress to legislate an end to the practice of secret, forced arbitration in cases of workplace sexual harassment.
In their call to action, the attorneys general stated that all too often employees are required by employers to sign employment contracts containing arbitration agreements that require sexual harassment claims be resolved through private arbitration instead of the judicial process.
In their view, such closed procedures tend to protect serial violators and provide inadequate relief to victims.
The attorneys general letter was sent to leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and asks the members of Congress to pass new legislation to ensure that sexual harassment victims have a right to access normal judicial remedies.
“Congress today has both opportunity and cause to champion the rights of victims of sexual harassment in the workplace by enacting legislation to free them from the injustice of forced arbitration and secrecy when it comes to seeking redress from egregious misconduct condemned by all concerned Americans,” wrote the attorneys general in the letter.
Attorneys general from the states, D.C. and five U.S. territories joined the letter: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
If you are an employer in Connecticut and need guidance on the topic of sexual harassment, contact the attorneys at Kainen, Escalera & McHale. We do one thing and one thing only – we are an employer defense law firm – in fact, we are one of the largest employer defense law firms in the region. What’s more, each of our attorneys has over 20 years of experience in employment law and labor law matters and can provide your business with comprehensive legal counsel ranging from assistance with necessary preventive measures to trial advocacy. Please contact us if we can help you.
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