[UPDATE: On December 7, 2022, President Biden signed the Speak Out Act (the “Act”) into law. This bipartisan legislation, passed by the U.S. Senate on September 29, 2022 and by the House of Representatives on November 16, 2022, limits the enforceability of pre–dispute nondisclosure and nondisparagement clauses relating to sexual assault and sexual harassment claims.]
On November 16, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Speak Out Act (the “Act”), which President Biden is expected to sign into law. The bipartisan legislation, passed by the Senate on September 29, 2022, limits the enforceability of pre-dispute nondisclosure and nondisparagement clauses relating to sexual assault and sexual harassment claims.
On March 3, 2022, President Biden, as expected, signed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (“Act”) into law. As we previously explained, the Act amends the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) to make pre-dispute arbitration agreements for sexual assault and sexual harassment claims invalid and unenforceable. Parties remain free, however, to mutually agree to arbitration after a claim has been asserted. The new law delegates any disputes regarding the Act, including as to the arbitrability of claims, to the courts, and not an arbitrator, to decide.
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