Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Ms. DeLAURO. Madam Speaker, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act is bipartisan. It is legislation that provides survivors with the resources they need to seek the justice that they deserve and empower them by giving them a choice to go to court instead of being forced into arbitration.

Survivors like Susan Fowler who, in 2015, was working with Uber when her manager started sexually harassing her. She immediately reported this to human resources, but when she did, her manager threatened to fire her. And since Uber employees are forced to sign arbitration agreements when they are hired, preventing them from bringing sexual harassment claims to court, Susan was forced into a confidential dispute forum without the right to appeal.

Three years later, Susan had had enough and she spoke out, writing in an op-ed for the New York Times: ``From the systemic culture of harassment and discrimination at Uber . . . to the ubiquitous stories of women taken advantage of in industries ranging from professional football to restaurants, we have seen one company after another publicly outed and shamed for illegal treatment of employees.''

And Susan rightly asks, ``The question is no longer whether mistreatment actually occurs . . . but what can we do to ensure that it never happens again.''

The answer is simple. We can pass this bipartisan legislation, end the practice of forced arbitration, and I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this bill.

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