Effective July 11, 2018, employers are not permitted to institute mandatory arbitration agreements related to sexual harassment claims. This means that if an employer currently has a mandatory arbitration clause built into its standard employment agreements, separation agreements or settlement agreements, those documents will need to be edited to carve out an exception for any claims related to sexual harassment. It is unclear how or whether the Federal Arbitration Act will pre-empt this prohibition, but it is possible we will see litigation related to pre-emption in the coming months.
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