As stories of sexual misconduct by high profile personalities continue to dominate the news, the U.S. House of Representatives has taken steps to curb harassment by its own members. The House recently adopted reforms that among other things would hold its members personally liable for any sexual harassment award or settlement, establish an Office of Employee Advocacy, mandate anti-harassment training every two years, and require each employing office of the House to establish an anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policy.
These reforms, some of which must be approved by the U.S. Senate before they can go into effect, are likely to provide added impetus to the effort to extend similar measures to the private sector, as well as boost efforts to advance pending legislation that would bar mandatory arbitration of sexual harassment claims and prohibit the use of nondisclosure agreements in connection with sexual harassment settlements.
Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.