Originally from Alternatives to the High Cost of Litigation

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Social justice movements like #TimesUp and #MeToo have increased awareness of the ubiquity of sexual harassment in the workplace and in society generally. Taking advantage of this momentum, in November 2018, 20,000 Google employees staged a walkout protest of the company’s sexual harassment policies, claiming that mandatory arbitration of sexual harassment claims, nondisclosure agreements, and prohibitions on class actions limited victims’ access to resources and to the public court system, among other issues.

In response to the public pressure, Google announced it would no longer require employees to settle sexual harassment claims through private arbitration. This high-profile policy change prompted other tech companies, including AirBnB, eBay, Square and BuzzFeed, to announce that they would follow Google’s lead and no longer enforce mandatory arbitration provisions for sexual harassment claims. See Jena McGregor, “Google and Facebook ended forced arbitration for sexual harassment claims. Why more companies could follow.” Washington Post (Nov. 12, 2018) (available at https://wapo.st/2GFWCZH).