Litigation
Cal. Litig. 2022, VOLUME 35, ISSUE 2
Content
- A Conversation With Ninth Circuit Judge John B. Owens
- Advanced Topics In Appellate Practice: the Path of Mastery
- Editor's Foreword
- From the Section Chair
- How Rights Went Wrong: Why Our Obsession With Rights Is Tearing America Apart
- It's Time To Fix Our Broken Discovery Civil Culture
- LITIGATION v. TRANSACTIONAL WORK: WHO'S THE "REAL LAWYER"?
- PAST SECTION CHAIRS & EDITORS-IN-CHIEF
- SECTION OFFICERS & EDITORIAL BOARD
- Table of Contents
- Tell It To the Judge ... or the Jury ... or the Arbitrator? Before You Tell Your Story ... Know Your Audience!
- The Crest Opinions: Impeding Legislative Efforts To Diversify Corporate Boards
- The Power of Arbitrators To Decide Arbitrability — Delegation Clauses and Lessons From Caselaw
- U.S. v. NIXON, 50 YEARS LATER
- When May a Court Compel An Individual (Or Representative) Paga Claim To Arbitration?
- New Federal Legislation Raises Multiple Questions Regarding Litigation of Sexual Abuse and Sexual Harassment Cases and Affects Recent State Legislation
NEW FEDERAL LEGISLATION RAISES MULTIPLE QUESTIONS REGARDING LITIGATION OF SEXUAL ABUSE AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT CASES AND AFFECTS RECENT STATE LEGISLATION
Written by Hon. Allan J. Goodman (Ret.)*
Federal law affecting predispute arbitration agreements in sexual assault and sexual harassment matters changed significantly in March of this year. This article discusses what those changes are or may be. It also addresses related California legislation.
THE FEDERAL LEGISLATION
Key provisions of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) are set out in chapter 1 of title 9 of the United States Code. Section 1 of this chapter contains definitions of terms, including of the term "commerce." Section 2, with exceptions not necessary for discussion here, has provided the federal statutory basis for arbitration of disputes: that the disputes involve contracts "evidencing a transaction in commerce" … "save upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for the revocation of any contract." At least, that was the reach of the FAA until section 2 was amended, effective March 3, 2022.