In response to global protests against sexual harassment and for a more equal working environment after a New York Times article broke stating Google had concealed allegations of sexual misconduct of several of its executives and paid a senior vice president $90 million after such allegations against him were substantiated, Google announced that it will handle sexual harassment claims with transparency and employees will no longer be required to arbitrate sexual harassment or sexual assault claims. Google also promised a revised reporting structure, annual training, to track and report incidents of misconduct and how they are handled.
The following day, Facebook announced that it too would end mandatory arbitration for sexual harassment claims. Airbnb followed with an announcement that it would end mandatory arbitration in cases involving any kind of discrimination. eBay added its hat to the ring when it announced it too would no longer require employees to arbitrate sexual harassment claims. It is likely, with the increased attention brought by #MeToo, that companies will continue to reconsider and suspend mandatory arbitration programs for these kinds of claims.
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