Employee claiming sexual misconduct can opt out of predispute artbitration agreement
In 2022, Congress enacted the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, which went into effect March 3, 2022.
The act entitles someone who files a complaint in court alleging conduct constituting sexual harassment or sexual assault, as defined under federal, tribal, or state law, to opt out of a “predispute arbitration agreement.” The law defines “predispute arbitration agreement” as “any agreement to arbitrate a dispute that had not yet arisen at the time of the making of the agreement.” The act gives employees and consumers the right to assert claims of sexual misconduct in court.
But when does a “dispute” over sexual harassment or sexual assault arise? May an employee decline to arbitrate who signs an arbitration agreement after the alleged sexual misconduct occurred but before the employee complained about it? A panel of the California Court of Appeal answered those questions recently in Kader v. Southern California Medical Center, Inc.
Click here to read the full article written by SCMV Shareholder Dan Eaton and published in The San Diego Union-Tribune.