Gillibrand calls for end to forced workplace harassment settlements
Posted: Updated:MELVILLE -
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand spoke in Melville Friday morning at a Long Island Association meeting about fighting sexual harassment in the workplace.
She's pushing her new bill that would prohibit companies and businesses from forcing employees to quietly settle issues of workplace sexual harassment.
Sen. Gillibrand says an estimated 60 million Americans are made to sign the "forced arbitration clause" as a condition of their employment. She says most times it is mixed in with the paperwork an employee signs when they get hired.
"When a company has a forced arbitration policy, it means that if a worker is sexually harassed or assaulted in the workplace, they're never allowed to go to court," says Gillibrand. "You cannot go to court, you cannot have a jury of your peers, you can't have that transparency and accountability."
Gillibrand says her bill has bipartisan support.
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