In a previous editorial we celebrated the enactment of the federal Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, which allows employees and other plaintiffs to void pre-dispute arbitration clauses for disputes alleging sexual assault or sexual harassment. As we explained, this new law “means sexual assault and sexual harassment claims that arise or accrue after [the] March 3, 2022 [effective date] can be pursued in court, with all the public scrutiny that entails.”

This new federal law does not mean, however, that sexual assault and sexual harassment claimants will be able to present their claims to a jury of their peers. That is because many employers require their employees as a condition of employment to sign not only arbitration clauses, but also jury trial waivers. And pre-dispute jury trial waivers, our Supreme Court has held, are enforceable as a matter of Connecticut law. L & R Realty v. Conn. Nat’l Bank, 246 Conn. 1, 16 (1998).

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