Attorney Gen. Curtis Hill Joins Fight Against Sexual Harassment

ACROSS INDIANA -- Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill has joined a bipartisan coalition of 50 states, five territories and the District of Columbia urging Congress to help protect employees against sexual harassment in the workplace, according to a release from the state attorney's office. Officials say this alliance is working to get Congress to end secret and forced arbitration in cases surrounding sexual harassment in work environments, as employees are often required to sign contracts containing settlement agreements which authorize these sexual harassment cases be resolved privately instead of through the judicial process. According to a release, private arbitration can lead to keeping details and relief from victims, in turn protecting the violators.

“Our American judicial system stands for the proposition that everyone gets their day in court," Attorney General Hill said, in a release. "Mandating arbitration undermines this fundamental principle."

According to a release, the attorneys general letter sent Monday to leaders in the U.S. House of Representative and the U.S. Senate asks Congress to do just that - to pass appropriately-tailored legislation to ensure that sexual harassment victims have a right to their day in court.

“Congress today has both opportunity and cause to champion the rights of victims of sexual harassment in the workplace by enacting legislation to free them from the injustice of forced arbitration and secrecy when it comes to seeking redress from egregious misconduct condemned by all concerned Americans,” states the letter co-sponsored by Attorney General Hill.

In addition, the letter reads, "While there may be benefits to arbitration provisions in other contexts, they do not extend to sexual harassment claims. Victims of such serious misconduct should not be constrained to
pursue relief from decision makers who are not trained as judges, are not qualified to act as
courts of law, and are not positioned to ensure that such victims are accorded both procedural
and substantive due process."

More: in.gov/attorneygeneral/

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