In an alarming development for workers’ rights, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) voted this week to rescind its longstanding position that forced arbitration clashes with our nation’s civil rights laws. Forced arbitration—the practice of employers forcing employees to sign away their right to take their claims to court—allows corporations to get away with violating their workers’ rights.
This decision has especially harmful implications for victims of workplace harassment. Forced arbitration is a tactic employers have long used to silence victims and prevent them from receiving justice in court, which enables harassment to continue in the dark.
The EEOC’s role is to protect workers from discrimination based on sex, race, national origin, disability, age, and more. By rolling back their stance on forced arbitration, they jeopardize that mission. We strongly condemn this decision.
