Court of Appeals Set to Decide on Sexual Harassment Claims and Timing

A case pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit will address a question that will have major implications for employers fielding certain sexual harassment claims. That question involves sexual harassment claims and timing, as Barnes & Thornburg attorney Rochelle Lynn Calderon writes in a recent article on the firm’s website.

Famuyide v. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. involves the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA), which was enacted on March 3, 2022.

In the Chipotle case, an employee alleges she was sexually assaulted by a co-worker in November of 2021 – several months before the EFAA took effect – and that the company failed to investigate or provide support. In July of 2022, months after the law went into effect, the employee filed a lawsuit against Chipotle, in Minnesota state court.

The company moved to compel arbitration, on the basis of an arbitration agreement it maintains the employee had signed when she started work.

The district court opined that the dispute arose when the plaintiff filed her lawsuit, which was after EFAA took effect, and thus it allowed the court case to proceed. The company appealed, and now the major issue for the Eighth Circuit has to do with timing: When do disputes such as this “arise”?

The author lays out three possible ways the court could answer: when the alleged misconduct occurred; when the lawsuit is filed; or when a pre-suit charge is filed. However it rules, Calderon concludes, the Eighth Circuit’s decision in this case “will be crucial in defining the interpretation and management of disputes under the EFAA, setting a significant precedent for future cases.”