Sexual Harassment

According to a new analysis by Lex Machina and reported on by Law360, workers filed 2,700 fewer federal complaints or lawsuits through the first three quarters of 2020. The report notes that the drop-off has been particularly apparent in the second and third quarters.

It’s not every day that a blue chip company decides to sue a former executive, let alone its erstwhile CEO, but this is exactly what McDonald’s did by suing Steve Easterbrook, who had been fired last year for inappropriate conduct, specifically, sexting with an employee.

A split has appeared in how to handle sexual harassment cases with a New York trial judge ruling recently that the state’s Human Rights Law prevents companies and employees from entering arbitration over sexual harassment. This contradicts an earlier ruling in New York’s Southern District where a judge ruled that arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) supersedes New York’s statutory prohibition against arbitration.

Taking a break from the wall-to-wall imperative that is coronavirus, we wanted to highlight a new study about workplace cultures in the legal practice. Conducted by the Women Lawyers on Guard, the study Still Broken: Sexual Harassment and Misconduct in the Legal Profession shows that sexual harassment plagues women at all levels of the legal profession, from early-career lawyers to judges, and everyone in between.

The Sexual Harassment Working Group in Albany has proposed legislation that focuses on addressing nondisclosure laws, expanding the protections for legislative employees, and developing trauma-centered statutes of limitations policies.

In 2018, Governor Cuomo signed a law that banned many NDAs and mandatory arbitration for complaints, but some activists and policymakers argued that the state had focused too narrowly on sexual harassment, and the 2019 laws expanded the 2018 laws to include protections against NDAs in other forms of workplace discrimination.

Alex Berke, an employment lawyer in New York, says she asks men what their goal is when they come to her after being accused of sexual harassment. Will a lawsuit really stop people from talking about them?

Among the most significant risks to Uber drivers were those in the form of sexual and physical assault on the job, with 42% of assault cases being reported by drivers. The most common assault reported by drivers and riders was "non-consensual touching of a sexual body part," with 1,560 cases reported in 2018 alone.

Sexual harassment can still take place in workplaces that provide sexual harassment training. New York has attempted to improve sexual harassment training in the workplace.

New study by Cornell University’s ILR School highlights frequency of sexual harassment in the workplace in New York State.

Check out the many recent updates to New York State and New York City employment law.

On Wednesday, June 19, 2019 the New York State Legislature passed a sweeping set of reforms to the state’s laws on sexual harassment, that is currently awaiting the Governor’s signature.