Gretchen Carlson Lambastes Mandatory Arbitration

The former Fox News anchor says that sexual harassment, much of it blatant and crude, has been a constant in her career and that her experience is not unusual. A former violinist and high school valedictorian, as well as a former Miss America, she says that when she embarked on her career in the media business she was repeatedly regarded as sexual prey and harassed. Carlson, who recently settled a sexual harassment lawsuit with former Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, suggests a number of ways to address the problem, and her prescription includes a blistering attack on mandatory arbitration for discrimination claims. “Companies should not be allowed to force employees to sign contracts that include arbitration clauses under which all discrimination disputes, including sexual harassment claims, can be resolved only in a secret proceeding,” she writes. “Women who are unaware that other women have come forward are less likely to speak up themselves.” She also calls for a national standard for sexual harassment training, one that would expose “corporate facades designed to create the illusion of compliance.”