Victims of Sexual Misconduct Testify Against Forced Arbitration

But according to legislators, the clauses strip survivors of the right to decide how to pursue accountability, and instead their cases are heard in secretive proceedings that do little to stop systemic abuse from occurring again.

Lora Henry, who worked at Ken Ganley Kia, a car dealership in Medina, Ohio, said that her supervisor, Mike Gentry, had grabbed her buttocks, pinched her nipples and, on her birthday, showed up unannounced “with a bag of sex toys as ‘gifts.’”

She said that when she had complained, the company said “it was my fault” and that she had eventually been fired. When she filed a lawsuit, the company’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss it, citing the arbitration agreement, she said.

Mark Koberna, a lawyer for Ken Ganley Kia, said that the dealership had “responded immediately” to her complaint, hiring a “third-party human resources consultant” to investigate. The consultant “was not able to substantiate the ex-employee’s claims,” Mr. Koberna said in a statement.

Mr. Koberna said Ms. Henry had been fired not for filing a complaint but for other reasons, which he did not specify.

“The dealership does not tolerate sexual harassment or retaliation against employees who report claims of sexual harassment,” he said.

Andowah A. Newton, a lawyer who worked for LVMH, a multibillion-dollar conglomerate of luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Dom Pérignon and Veuve Clicquot, said she had repeatedly been harassed by Lloyd Doran, the company’s director of property and facility operations.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/16/us/forced-arbitration-sexual-harassment.html