{"id":6826,"date":"2021-12-15T17:05:22","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T17:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=6826"},"modified":"2021-12-15T17:05:22","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T17:05:22","slug":"congress-closes-in-on-sexual-misconduct-reform-4-years-after-its-metoo-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=6826","title":{"rendered":"Congress closes in on sexual misconduct reform, 4 years after its #MeToo moment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\n“The bill, led by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Graham and Reps. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), addresses companies’ common use of private arbitration to settle allegations of misconduct on the job. The process faced widespread criticism from victims as well as advocates, particularly after former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson\u2019s 2016 sexual harassment lawsuit against the network and its then-CEO, the late Roger Ailes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Trump out of office and prominent misconduct cases largely faded from public view, however, the bill has acquired unique momentum. On a Senate Judiciary Committee that’s known for its partisan divide, especially in recent years, the forced arbitration bill counts support from GOP hardliners like Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and progressives like Hawaii Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono. The panel’s approval of the Gillibrand-Graham bill by voice vote is a positive sign for its prospects on the Senate floor.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Opponents of forced arbitration argue that the process is skewed in favor of employers, keeping misconduct allegations and resulting investigation findings confidential and requiring employees to settle their case outside a court of law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce counter that arbitration can be less expensive and swifter than taking a case to court. The Chamber backed an alternative proposal recently floated<\/a> by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) that would eliminate mandatory arbitration completely for on-the-job sexual assault claims. Under Ernst\u2019s bill, companies could still arbitrate sexual harassment claims if they meet a list of criteria, including allowing victims to talk about their cases publicly if they choose to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ernst said Tuesday that she is working with Gillibrand on making changes to the original bipartisan legislation since \u201cthis is the one that\u2019s moving\u201d and that the duo \u2014 who worked together on bipartisan military sexual assault reform \u2014 is getting \u201cmuch closer.\u201d” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It\u2019s not clear yet to what extent business groups will lobby against the Gillibrand-Graham legislation. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce hasn\u2019t publicly taken a position on the bill and referred POLITICO to its letter supporting Ernst\u2019s alternative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cListen, if I\u2019m a business person I\u2019d want to limit legal exposure, and arbitration in business matters is OK,\u201d Graham said. \u201cBut this is not a business matter. This is misconduct directed toward individual workers.\u201d”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2021\/12\/01\/congress-sexual-misconduct-reform-me-too-523569<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The bill, led by Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Graham and Reps. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), addresses companies’ common use of private arbitration to settle allegations of misconduct on the job. The process faced widespread criticism from victims as well as advocates, particularly after former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson\u2019s 2016 sexual harassment lawsuit against the network and its then-CEO, the late Roger Ailes.<\/p>\n

With Trump out of office and prominent misconduct cases largely faded from public view, however, the bill has acquired unique momentum. On a Senate Judiciary Committee that’s known for its partisan divide, especially in recent years, the forced arbitration bill counts support from GOP hardliners like Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and progressives like Hawaii Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono. The panel’s approval of the Gillibrand-Graham bill by voice vote is a positive sign for its prospects on the Senate floor.”<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“Opponents of forced arbitration argue that the process is skewed in favor of employers, keeping misconduct allegations and resulting investigation findings confidential and requiring employees to settle their case outside a court of law.<\/p>\n

Business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce counter that arbitration can be less expensive and swifter than taking a case to court. The Chamber backed an alternative proposal recently floated by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) that would eliminate mandatory arbitration completely for on-the-job sexual assault claims. Under Ernst\u2019s bill, companies could still arbitrate sexual harassment claims if they meet a list of criteria, including allowing victims to talk about their cases publicly if they choose to.<\/p>\n

Ernst said Tuesday that she is working with Gillibrand on making changes to the original bipartisan legislation since \u201cthis is the one that\u2019s moving\u201d and that the duo \u2014 who worked together on bipartisan military sexual assault reform \u2014 is getting \u201cmuch closer.\u201d” <\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s not clear yet to what extent business groups will lobby against the Gillibrand-Graham legislation. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce hasn\u2019t publicly taken a position on the bill and referred POLITICO to its letter supporting Ernst\u2019s alternative.<\/p>\n

\u201cListen, if I\u2019m a business person I\u2019d want to limit legal exposure, and arbitration in business matters is OK,\u201d Graham said. \u201cBut this is not a business matter. This is misconduct directed toward individual workers.\u201d”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[206,542,205,1490],"class_list":["post-6826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article-share","tag-metoo-2","tag-congress","tag-metoo","tag-sexual-misconduct"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6826"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6827,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6826\/revisions\/6827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}