Signing an Arbitration Agreement Doesn’t Automatically Send a Harassment Claim There

“I signed an arbitration agreement when I was hired. I assumed that meant this had to go to arbitration, no matter what happened.”

Not necessarily. A federal law passed a few years ago, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, carves sexual harassment claims out of forced arbitration — but only once a claim actually alleges harassment with enough specificity to trigger the carve-out.

A recent federal case, Ai v. Tencent America LLC, addressed exactly this pleading question: how much does a complaint have to allege before a court will treat the EFAA’s exemption as triggered, rather than sending the matter into arbitration under the underlying agreement.

This matters because employers sometimes push back hard on the assumption that any signed arbitration agreement controls, full stop. It doesn’t, for this specific category of claim, once the complaint is framed correctly.

The practical risk for an employee is filing (or having an attorney file) a complaint that doesn’t allege enough to make the exemption stick, and ending up in arbitration by default rather than because the claim actually belonged there.

If you signed an arbitration agreement and are dealing with a harassment situation, how the claim is framed can determine which venue it ends up in. 

Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine whether you have a claim — and how much of a conversation that takes.

This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts — no lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes. AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication.