McHugh 1

Nicole McHugh

Professor Ferrara

ENGL 1001

11 May 2022

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Sexual Harassment, according to the Merium Webster Dictionary, is the “uninvited and

unwelcome verbal or physical behavior of a sexual nature especially by a person in authority

toward a subordinate.” Sexual harassment is something that occurs in many different

environments but has been an ongoing problem throughout the work environment for many

years. That being the case, many employers include what is known as a forced arbitration clause

in employment contracts. In a CNN article, “What the workplace harassment law reform will

mean for you”, a forced arbitration clause is explained as “the legal options for employees who

are victims of sexual harassment and sexual assault, and make it difficult to hold companies and

employers accountable for wrongdoing” (LeBlanc). Congress and the Supreme Court have done

very little to challenge the use of arbitration clauses but instead have shown their support for it.

As a result, the best way to prevent sexual harassment within the workplace and increase a

businesse’s success is to change the laws present within our current legal system. By changing

the laws within our system, the voices of victims will be heard, people will be held accountable

for their actions, and the overall occupational well-being of employees will increase.

Forced arbitration clauses are implemented in contracts in order to silence the voices of

victims who are trying to express the truths and realities of what they have experienced within

their place of employment. When victims are silenced, the prospect for reform becomes very
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unlikely. Due to the silence, other members of the business or corporation are unaware of the

events taking place and victims may lose their comfortability within a company and decide to

leave. This all results in people being at a loss when it comes to change since people are

uneducated or end up avoiding the situation as a whole. In order to change the unawareness and

lack of action against sexual harassment it is important to change the laws to give victims their

voices back. In her TED Talk, “How we can end sexual harassment at work”, Gretchen Carlson

explains, “The teeny tiny little print in contracts that keep seual harassment claims unheard.

Forced arbitration takes away your seventh amendment right to an open jury process. It’s secret.”

(“How can we end…” 00:10:56-11:11). This information helps illustrate to society how hard it is

for victims to be heard and why many of them do not even try to speak up in the first place.

People are afraid to even try to fight back because there are so many obstacles present that

restrict survivors from receiving a fair trial. These obstacles include unfair arbitrators chosen by

those working for the business so that they are more on protecting the reputation of the business

and also restrictions against victims resulting in the inability to make an appeal. Carlson also

expresses that, “only 20 percent of the time does the employee win” (“How can we end…”

00:11:21-23). So why would victims even try to speak up and create change when they know

that a business or corporation has so much more power than themselves and in the end, they are

ultimately set up to lose. The article, “‘They Talk Like That, But We Keep Working’: Sexual

Harassment and Sexual Assault Experiences Among Mexican Indigenous Farmworker Women

in Oregon.” expresses, “Women reported engaging in tactics including ignoring or even

pretending to consent to harassment, worried that reporting the behavior would lead to losing
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their jobs.” (Murphy). This information illustrates how far women would go in order to avoid

reporting cases of sexual harassment or abuse due to the great amounts of harm it could cause

them, the main on including losing their job. By changing the laws and restricting the use of

forced arbitration clauses, victims will be given the opportunity to a fair trial after their making

their accusation of sexual harassment. Without the ability to receive justice, many employees let

their experiences build up and they never receive closure from their experiences due to their

inability to contend with the power of the forced arbitration clauses. So as a result of the changes

within the law system, victims will feel like they have the ability to tell their truth and the power

to fight back against their harassers to receive justice.

Along with providing victims the ability to use their voice and share their story, changing

the laws will also help hold people accountable for their actions. In an article titled, “Senators

Raise Concerns Regarding Secret, Forced Arbitration Clauses That Silence Victims of Sexual

Harrassment and Workplace Abuse”, it explains, “Requiring a completely secrete and silent

process serves the interests of companies that wish to avoid the consequences of their actions.

Workplace harassment and abuse is a scourge, occurring far too often and reported far too

infrequently” (Blumenthals, 2). This quote illustrates how companies are hiding behind these

forced arbitration clauses that help them cover up what is occurring regularly throughout many

businesses. Without these forced arbitration laws, situations will no longer be covered up and

swept under the rug, but instead, the actions of one will be judged fairly and they will receive the

appropriate consequences for those actions. By holding employees who sexually harrasse or

asault other employees responsible for their actions, it sets the standard moral and ethical
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behavior that all employees are expected to follow. As a result, the occurance of sexual

harassment and asault that takes place within the workplace will decrease as other employees

would not want the same undesirable consequences their fellow employees guilty of sexual

harassment receive.

Since changing the laws for forced arbitration clauses will ultimately provide people with

the opportunity to report situations when they are uncomfortable and guarantee that there will be

consequences to people’s actions, the overall occupational well-being of employees is

guaranteed to increase. In an article written by Pamala Wadsworth, “Occupational Well-Being in

Sexual Assault Victims and Survivor”, it explains, “The participants characterized occupational

well-being as having work in which they were able to realize their own potential, feel connected

to others, and make a meaningful contribution.” (Wadsworth). So in order for businesses to have

productive and smart-thinking employees, a business or company must assure their employees

comfortability and trustworthiness in the management and authority figures. This can be

achieved by excluding forced arbitration clauses from employment contracts so that employees

are assured that they will be supported and guided throughout any situation they report.

Employers can show their employees their support by providing them with outlets to report and

heal from any trauma that has occurred as well as punishing harassers for their actions.

One who disagrees with the idea that changing laws regarding forced arbitration clauses

would be the most successful way in preventing sexual harassment within the workplace may

argue that providing employees with sexual harassment training is more effective. Sexual

harassment training is useful in order to teach employees the difference between acceptable and
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unacceptable behavior, as well as how to identify these types of behviors. Even though there are

certain benefits to these training programs, they are not successful when it comes to prevention.

In the TED Talk presented by Gretchen Carlson that was mentioned earlier on, she explains,

“Ninety eight percent of the United States corporation right now have sexual harassment training

policies. Seventy percent have prevention programs. But still, overwhelmingly, bystanders and

witnesses don’t come forward.” (“How can we end…” 00:09:34-48). These statistics prove to

society that training programs are not productive in prevention. These programs help educate

employees but since they have no role in distributing consequences or holding people

accountable, employees take the steps through the program but do not put in the care or effort

along with it. This is why changing forced arbitration laws is the best path to take as victims will

then be able to advocate for themselves and receive the justice they deserve.

To bring all the ideas together about how changing the laws behind forced arbitration

clauses is beneficial to preventing sexual harassment, it is important to realize why preventing

sexual harassment is important in the first place. A work enviornement free of sexual harassment

allows for an increase in comfortability in an employee’s position, allowing for more creativity

and productivity as well. Changing the laws of forced arbitration laws will promote the ability to

advocate for themselves, as well as holding people accountable for their inappropriate behavior.

It is important, especially in the time period we are in today, for people to treat each other

equally and with the respect they deserve. By preventing sexual harassment in the workplace,

different movements like the “Me Too” and the “GirlsToo”, will be able to make even further
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strides and create the necessary changes to reach the future we hope for, one without any sexual

harassment or assault.
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Works Cited

“Sexual Harassment Defition & Meaning.” Merrium-Webster, Merrium-Webster,

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sexual%20harassment.

LeBlanc, Paul. “Analysis: What the Workplace Harassment Law Reform Will Mean for You.”
CNN, Cable News Network, 10 Feb. 2022,
https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/10/politics/forced-arbitration-sexual-harassment-what-mat
ters/index.html.

Carlson, Gretchen, director. Gretchen Carlson: How We Can End Sexual Harassment at Work |
TED Talk,
https://www.ted.com/talks/gretchen_carlson_how_we_can_end_sexual_harassment_at_w
ork?referrer=playlist-the_conversation_around_sexual_assault&autoplay=true. Accessed
11 May 2022.

“Senators Raise Concerns Regarding Secret, Forced Arbitration Clauses That Silence Victims of
Sexual Harassment and Workplace Abuse (Blumenthal) 202-224-6452.” Congressional
Documents and Publications, Federal Information & News Dispatch, LLC, 2016.

Murphy, Jeanne, et al. “‘They Talk Like That, But We Keep Working’: Sexual Harassment and
Sexual Assault Experiences Among Mexican Indigenous Farmworker Women in
Oregon.” Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, vol. 17, no.
6, Springer US, 2014, pp. 1834–39, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-014-9992-z.

Wadsworth, Pamela, et al. “Occupational Well-Being in Sexual Assault Victims and Survivors.”
Journal of Holistic Nursing, vol. 38, no. 2, SAGE Publications, 2020, pp. 170–85,
https://doi.org/10.1177/0898010119863537.