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No. Since March 2022, federal law has prohibited employers from forcing employees into private arbitration for sexual harassment or sexual assault claims, even if the employee signed an arbitration agreement before the law existed. New York has its own, separate law doing much of the same thing. Together, these protections mean you have the right to bring a sexual harassment claim in open court, regardless of what your employment contract says — though the details of how courts apply that right are still being worked out, and a few exceptions matter.
AUTHOR YURIY MOSHES, ESQ
Founding Member of Moshes Law, P.C.
During his years of practice, Yuriy has concentrated in litigation and real estate transactions as his areas of expertise
If your employer is trying to force your sexual harassment claim into arbitration, you may have the right to take your case to court. Speak with an experienced New York employment attorney to understand your options.
For decades, most employees who signed an employment contract also signed away their right to sue. Buried arbitration clauses required that workplace disputes, including sexual harassment and assault, be resolved privately by an arbitrator instead of a judge or jury — proceedings that were confidential, generally final, and hard to appeal. Estimates put the number of American workers bound by these clauses in the tens of millions.
That changed with the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, a federal law enacted in March 2022 that amended the 100-year-old Federal Arbitration Act. The key changes:
It carves out one specific exception- Predispute arbitration agreements can no longer be enforced for claims of sexual assault or sexual harassment.
The choice belongs to the employee, not the employer– A worker can invalidate the arbitration clause and proceed in court instead.
Arbitration isn’t banned outright- If an employee would rather use arbitration after a dispute arises, that option still exists.
Forced arbitration is a private dispute process where a claim is decided by a neutral arbitrator instead of a judge or jury, outside the public court system. It’s typically confidential, and the arbitrator’s decision is usually final with very limited grounds for appeal.
The law applies broadly:
It covers more than federal claims– Disputes filed under federal, state, local, or tribal law all qualify — not just Title VII claims, but harassment claims under New York’s Human Rights Law and New York City’s Human Rights Law as well.
It uses the standard legal definition of harassment– Unwelcome, sex-based conduct that’s severe or pervasive enough that a reasonable person would find the workplace hostile or abusive.
It’s retroactive for agreements, not for old harassment– It invalidates arbitration clauses signed before the law existed, but it doesn’t apply to harassment that occurred before the law took effect.
Courts are still working out exactly when a “dispute” is considered to have arisen for that retroactivity line — a California appellate court, for instance, recently had to decide whether a dispute arises when the harassment happens or when a formal claim is filed, which can determine whether a case qualifies for court or gets sent to arbitration.
In some situations, yes — and the boundaries are still being tested in court.
One open question is what happens when a harassment claim is bundled with unrelated claims, like wage disputes or disability discrimination. In 2025, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that when a harassment claim is part of a larger case, the arbitration agreement can be voided for the entire case, not just the harassment portion.
That’s fueled a trend defense attorneys call “poison pill” litigation — where plaintiffs’ lawyers attach a harassment claim to an unrelated case specifically to defeat an arbitration agreement. Several courts have allowed this to stand, so the law’s scope is still expanding case by case rather than settled by one clear standard.
New York employees have an extra layer of protection that predates the federal law. Since 2018, Section 7515 of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules has barred mandatory arbitration clauses for sexual harassment claims, expanded in 2019 to cover discrimination claims generally.
Federal courts in New York were split on whether this state law survives the Federal Arbitration Act’s strong preference for enforcing arbitration agreements — some rulings found preemption, others upheld the state protections.
The 2022 federal law resolved that fight for harassment and assault specifically: those claims are now protected regardless of how the preemption question plays out. What’s still unsettled is New York’s broader rule covering other discrimination claims, which isn’t mirrored federally.
For harassment or assault specifically, a New York employee now has two independent legal grounds — state and federal — for keeping a case out of arbitration.
If you’ve experienced sexual harassment or assault at work and your employment contract has an arbitration clause, that clause generally cannot be used to block you from filing a lawsuit — whether you signed the contract last month or a decade ago.
The practical effect of a specific claim — how it’s pleaded, which other claims are joined with it, and how a particular court has interpreted the law’s scope — can still change the outcome significantly given how actively courts are litigating these boundaries. That’s where having an employment attorney review your situation matters.
Employers in New York face two overlapping layers of restriction here, not one, and both carry real compliance work.
Federal and New York law now strongly restrict employers from forcing arbitration in sexual harassment and sexual assault cases, but how these protections apply can still depend on the specific facts of your case and ongoing court interpretation. If you’re facing harassment at work or your employer is trying to compel arbitration, the attorneys at Moshes Law can review your situation and help you understand your options. Schedule a free consultation to discuss your case.
Both. The federal law covers sexual harassment as well as sexual assault claims, using definitions established under existing federal employment law.
Yes. Arbitration is still permitted if the employee voluntarily chooses it after a dispute arises. The law only prevents employers from forcing it in advance.
Generally yes. The law applies to covered disputes arising after March 2022 and prevents enforcement of pre-dispute arbitration agreements, even if they were signed earlier.
It depends. Some courts allow related claims to proceed together in court, while others enforce arbitration for non-harassment claims depending on the case and jurisdiction.
You should not assume the arbitration clause is enforceable. Speak with an employment attorney promptly, as timing and legal strategy can impact your ability to protect your claim.
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