Speak Out Act

Last updated

Speak Out Act
Great Seal of the United States (obverse).svg
Long titleAn act to limit the judicial enforceability of predispute nondisclosure and nondisparagement contract clauses relating to disputes involving sexual assault and sexual harassment.
Enacted bythe 117th United States Congress
EffectiveDecember 7, 2022
Citations
Public law Pub. L. Tooltip Public Law (United States)  117–224 (text) (PDF)
Statutes at Large 136  Stat.   2290
Codification
U.S.C. sections created 42 U.S.C.   § 19401, § 19402, § 19403, § 19404
Legislative history

The Speak Out Act (S.4524) is an Act of Congress which prevents the enforcement of non-disclosure agreements in instances of sexual assault and harassment. Introduced by senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York during the second session of the 117th Congress, the legislation was approved unanimously in the Senate and was passed by the House of Representatives by a vote of 315 to 109. [1] [2]

Contents

President Joe Biden signed the bill into law on December 7, 2022. [3]

Biden signing the Speak Out Act into law Biden signing the Speak Out Act.jpg
Biden signing the Speak Out Act into law

Background

One of the MeToo movement's primary targets was the enactment of non-disclosure agreements, which MeToo leaders saw as a tool which sexual predators, especially within corporate American culture, could use in courts to prevent victims from raising concerns of inappropriate behaviors. Beginning mostly under the Biden administration, Congress has responded in a variety of ways, most notably passing the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act in March 2022, which bans the enforcement of arbitration clauses and class action waivers in cases of sexual harassment. [4]

Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson has been a major backer for both this bill as well as other MeToo inspired legislation. On the subject of non-disclosure agreements, Carlson called the vast outreach of the clauses "inane", and further indicated that many employees are pressured into signing these agreements on their first day of employment with a firm. [5]

Congressional findings

In the text of the bill, Congress stated that it had found non-disclosure agreements to perpetuate illegal conduct. Congress also stated that while 81% of women had experienced sexual harassment and assault at work, 43% of men had also experienced similar treatment, and that the freedom to report such conduct should not be inhibited, which banning non-disclosure agreements would enable. [2]

Legislative history

The bill was first introduced in July 2022 in the Senate by senator Kirsten Gillibrand with 9 Democratic and 5 Republican cosponsors, including judiciary committee chair Dick Durbin and ranking member Chuck Grassley. The bill passed the Senate with unanimous consent on September 29, 2022. [6]

The bill passed the house on November 16, 2022. Of the representatives voting, all 215 Democrats and 100 Republicans voted in favor, with 109 GOP members not supporting the legislation. Both parties' major leadership, including Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn on the Democratic side and Kevin McCarthy, Elise Stefanik and Steve Scalise on the Republican side, supported the bill's passage. [7]

Following completion of its Congressional stages, President Joe Biden signed the bill into law on December 7, 2022. [3]

Aftermath

Tiger Woods

The Speak Out Act came to prominence in March 2023, when professional golfer Tiger Woods was sued by former girlfriend Erica Herman and petitioned a judge to remove her from a 2017 NDA she signed with Woods. Herman's complaint cites the Speak Out Act and expresses belief that her NDA with Woods is invalid and unenforceable, though her complaint stated she was unsure on whether the non-disclosure agreement would enable discussions about her life with others. [8]

Vin Diesel

Former assistant Asta Jonasson filed lawsuit Dissel for sexual battery [9]

Related Research Articles

Arbitration, in the context of the law of the United States, is a form of alternative dispute resolution. Specifically, arbitration is an alternative to litigation through which the parties to a dispute agree to submit their respective evidence and legal arguments to a neutral third party for resolution. In practice arbitration is generally used as a substitute for litigation, particularly when the judicial process is perceived as too slow, expensive or biased. In some contexts, an arbitrator may be described as an umpire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Non-disclosure agreement</span> Contractual agreement not to disclose specified information

A non-disclosure agreement (NDA), also known as a confidentiality agreement (CA), confidential disclosure agreement (CDA), proprietary information agreement (PIA), or secrecy agreement (SA), is a legal contract or part of a contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish to restrict access to. Doctor–patient confidentiality, attorney–client privilege, priest–penitent privilege and bank–client confidentiality agreements are examples of NDAs, which are often not enshrined in a written contract between the parties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolyn Maloney</span> American politician (born 1946)

Carolyn Jane Maloney is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for New York's 12th congressional district from 2013 to 2023, and for New York's 14th congressional district from 1993 to 2013. The district includes most of Manhattan's East Side, Astoria and Long Island City in Queens, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, as well as Roosevelt Island. A member of the Democratic Party, Maloney ran for reelection in 2022 but lost the primary to 10th district incumbent Jerry Nadler after redistricting drew them both into the 12th district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual assault in the United States military</span> Sexual violence and harassment

Sexual assault in the United States armed forces is an ongoing issue which has received extensive media coverage in the past. A 2012 Pentagon survey found that approximately 26,000 women and men were sexually assaulted that year; of those, only 3,374 cases were reported. In 2013, a new Pentagon report found that 5,061 troops reported cases of assault. Of the reported cases, only 484 cases went to trial; 376 resulted in convictions. Another investigation found that one in five women in the United States Air Force who were sexually assaulted by service members reported it, for one in 15 men.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gretchen Carlson</span> American broadcast journalist (born 1966)

Gretchen Elizabeth Carlson is an American broadcast journalist, writer, and television personality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Violence Against Women Act</span> United States crime legislation

The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) is a United States federal law signed by President Bill Clinton on September 13, 1994. The Act provided $1.6 billion toward investigation and prosecution of violent crimes against women, imposed automatic and mandatory restitution on those convicted, and allowed civil redress when prosecutors chose to not prosecute cases. The Act also established the Office on Violence Against Women within the U.S. Department of Justice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arbitration clause</span> Contract clause requiring parties to resolve disputes via arbitration

In contract law, an arbitration clause is a clause in a contract that requires the parties to resolve their disputes through an arbitration process. Although such a clause may or may not specify that arbitration occur within a specific jurisdiction, it always binds the parties to a type of resolution outside the courts, and is therefore considered a kind of forum selection clause.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cindy Dyer</span> American attorney

Cynthia Dyer is an American attorney who has served as Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons since January 2023. She formerly served as director of the Office on Violence Against Women from 2007 to 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Roginsky</span> American democratic strategist and TV personality

Julie Roginsky is an American Democratic Party strategist, television personality and the founder of the non-profit Lift Our Voices, who has been credited with passing landmark federal civil rights legislation in the wake of the meToo movement. She was a contributor with the Fox News Channel where she was a frequent co-host on Outnumbered, and The Five. Prior to working at Fox News, she was a contributor at CNBC. Her columns have appeared in FoxNews.com, CNBC.com, Politico, Forbes, Ms. Magazine, and the Star-Ledger.

Andrea Lynn Pino (born February 15, 1992) is an American women's rights and civil rights activist, author, and a public scholar on issues of global gender based violence, media framing of violence, gender and sexuality, and narratives of survivorhood. She is the queer daughter of Cuban refugees and has stated that she is a survivor of sexual assault.

The Campus Accountability and Safety Act (CASA) was a bill introduced in the 114th United States Congress with the goal of reducing sexual violence on college and university campuses. First introduced in 2014, a revised bill was introduced in February 2015 by Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri with nine bi-partisan cosponsors. 43 cosponsors eventually signed on. The bill died in committee at the end of the session without reaching a floor vote in either house.

Sexual harassment in the workplace in US labor law has been considered a form of discrimination on the basis of sex in the United States since the mid-1970s. There are two forms of sexual harassment recognized by United States law: quid pro quo sexual harassment and behavior that creates a hostile work environment. It has been noted that a number of the early sexual harassment cases were brought by African American women and girls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MeToo movement</span> Social movement against sexual abuse and harassment

#MeToo is a social movement and awareness campaign against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media in 2006, on Myspace, by sexual assault survivor and activist Tarana Burke. The hashtag #MeToo was used starting in 2017 as a way to draw attention to the magnitude of the problem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Believe women</span> American political slogan

"Believe women" is an American political slogan arising out of the #MeToo movement. It refers to accepting women's allegations of sexual harassment or sexual assault at face value. Jude Doyle, writing for Elle, argues that the phrase means "don't assume women as a gender are especially deceptive or vindictive, and recognize that false allegations are less common than real ones."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act</span> Proposed law banning most pre-dispute binding arbitration agreements

The Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act is proposed legislation in the US Congress. The comprehensive legislation would prohibit pre-dispute, forced arbitration agreements from being valid or enforceable if it requires forced arbitration of an employment, consumer, or civil rights claim against a corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emmett Till Antilynching Act</span> 2022 US hate crime legislation

The Emmett Till Antilynching Act is a United States federal law which defines lynching as a federal hate crime, increasing the maximum penalty to 30 years imprisonment for several hate crime offences.

The USDA Coalition of Minority Employees is a civil rights organization formed by employees of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1994 specifically focused on ending discrimination within the Department and more generally on eradicating racism in agriculture in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honoring our PACT Act of 2022</span> Law enacted by the United States Congress

The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022, known as the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022, is an Act of Congress that spends $797 billion to significantly improve healthcare access and funding for veterans who were exposed to toxic substances during military service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Class action waiver</span> Contractual provision prohibiting certain lawsuits

A class action waiver is a provision found in some contracts which prohibits a party from filing a class action legal proceeding against the other party, or both parties waiving the right to file class actions against each other. These clauses are most often found, and most often upheld, in the United States and agreements with American citizens.

Lift Our Voices is an American nonprofit organization led by journalist and television host Gretchen Carlson and political consultant Julie Roginsky, who co-founded it in 2019, after their respective experiences of alleged sexual harassment while working at Fox News. Founded after the start of the MeToo movement, its mission is to end legal mechanisms that prevent survivors of Sexual assault, harassment, and other workplace abuse from speaking out publicly, such as Non-disclosure agreement and forced arbitration.

References

  1. Peck, Emily (November 16, 2022). "Congress is about to limit how workplaces use NDAs to silence sexual harassment victims". Axios. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Speak Out Act (S. 4524)". GovTrack.us. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  3. 1 2 Price, Michelle L. (December 7, 2022). "Biden signs law curbing nondisclosure agreements that block victims of sexual harassment from speaking out". PBS. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  4. Bustos, Cheri (March 3, 2022). "Text - H.R.4445 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021". www.congress.gov. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  5. "'Speak Out Act' targets Wall Street's silencing of sexual harassment". The Seattle Times. November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  6. "Details for S. 4524: Speak Out Act". GovTrack.us. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  7. "S. 4524: Speak Out Act -- House Vote #480 -- Nov 16, 2022". GovTrack.us. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  8. Gaydos, Ryan (March 8, 2023). "Tiger Woods faces lawsuit from ex-girlfriend Erica Herman over NDA, cites Speak Out Act". Fox News. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  9. "Vin Diesel 'Categorically Denies' Former Assistant's 'Outlandish' Sexual Battery Allegation, Says Lawyer".