Today, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand released the following statement after her bipartisan Protecting Older Americans Act passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee:
“The bipartisan Protecting Older Americans Act is an important step toward ending forced arbitration in cases of age discrimination, enabling victims to file their cases in court if they so choose and giving them a voice in the process. Far too many older workers have seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace, yet have been prevented from pursuing justice because of forced arbitration, a secretive and unjust process that strips hard-working American workers of their constitutional right to a jury trial. Employers should no longer be able to use forced arbitration clauses to hide discriminatory conduct, and the Protecting Older Americans Act would end that practice. I am proud to see this important bill pass out of Senate Judiciary and will continue to fight tirelessly until it is passed by the full Senate and House and signed into law.”
The Protecting Older Americans Act builds on Gillibrand’s successful effort last Congress to invalidate forced arbitration agreements in cases of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Her Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act was signed into law by President Biden in 2022 and prevents perpetrators from being able to push survivors of sexual harassment and sexual assault into the secretive, biased process of forced arbitration. The legislation changed 60 million employment contracts overnight.