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When to form Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson complained to then-CEO Roger Ailes about hazing from her male co-workers, he replied, with more harassment, according to a lawsuit she filed.
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"I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago, and then you'd be better and better. Sometimes problems are easier to solve, "he said, according to a complaint filed in New Jersey Superior Court in 2016.
The high-profile case eventually caused Wings' to be ousted as CEO and chairman of Fox News after 20 years.
The only reason anyone outside of Fox knows about it? Carlson filed a lawsuit, instead of going through the secret process of arbitration.
Nancy Erika Smith told ABC News, "Ways of being and knowing about things". Smith made the risky move of filing against Ailes personally, rather than the company.
Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images
On Thursday, a week after a global walkout of 20,000 Google employees, vendors, contractors and temp workers protesting the company's handling of sexual harassment and general equity cases, the tech company became the latest to reverse course and arbitrated arbitration in cases of sexual harassment and assault – fulfilling one of their demands.
In doing so, Google joins Microsoft, Uber and Lyft in waiving forced arbitration in sexual harassment and assault cases, despite a Supreme Court ruling in favor of mandatory arbitration earlier this year. Many employee advocates argue that ending forced arbitration, which usually imposes confidentiality on the parties involved, is the first step towards ending sexual harassment in workplaces.
"It's literally mindblowing," said Smith, who currently represents two women who were paid sexual harassment settlements by Fox news star star Bill O'Reilly. "It's unbelievably important to end sexual harassment."
Arbitration is a process that is common in American corporations. Courtesy of filing documents in court – which becomes part of the public record – and moving towards a jury trial,
Employers favor arbitration because it is often limited to the public and the amount of money in an employee will receive. Also, because the employer often wins.
"There is a lot more ways to keep what happens in a secret arbitration," University of Michigan Law Professor Julian Davis Mortenson said. "Ligitation usually has much wider-ranging discovery, as in, 'Hey give me all the emails that relate to my claims,' 'Give me all the embarrassing stuff.'"
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"Once you find the embarrassing stuff, it is not bound by the same confidentiality that arbitration has," he said, "it's way easier to disclose stuff happening in trial than in arbitration," Mortenson said. "A lot of these trials in the public opinion."
Another thing that tilts the playing field towards employers is numbers. Arbitrators are staffed by companies, whose clients are corporations. Out of, say, 10 potential arbitrators, each side has a few and oversees their dispute.
"If you're an arbitrator, I'm going to nominate you next time." "Mortgage said:" It's like picking your jury, "Mortenson said.
In harassment and discrimination cases, there's another factor: demographics.
"Arbitrators tend to be white men over 40 who come from a corporate or management background," said Doug Wigdor, a labor lawyer and arbitrator. He represented women who were sexually assaulted by their Uber driver.
Though Wigdor and Smith noted the progress made by allowing employees to sue for sexual harassment and assault, they also said it was just the beginning of a longer process.
"With sexual assault victims – they are important," said Wigdor, commending the Google decision. "But why not the same for racial or disability discrimination or"?
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