When the Techies Go Marching In: An Industry Updates Its Sexual Harassment Dispute Resolution Policy

Abstract

Social justice movements like #TimesUp and #MeToo have increased awareness of the ubiquity of sexual harassment in the workplace and in society generally. Taking advantage of this momentum, in November 2018, 20,000 Google employees staged a walkout protest of the company's sexual harassment policies, claiming that mandatory arbitration of sexual harassment claims, nondisclosure agreements, and prohibitions on class actions limited victims' access to resources and to the public court system, among other issues.