Google workers join lawmakers against forced arbitration

Several Google employees joined congressional Democrats on Thursday as they unveiled legislation to end forced arbitration, backing a worker-led push to eliminate a practice that critics argue disempowers employees.

The group of Democrats, including House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), announced the package of bills at a press conference, standing beside workers and citizens who say they have been harmed by forced arbitration clauses.

Six Google employees were among those in attendance at the press conference, including Tanuja Gupta, one of the workers who helped organize the protests last year against the company’s handling of sexual harassment cases.

Gretchen Carlson, the Fox News host who sued former Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes for sexual harassment in 2016, was also in attendance, along with workers who were fired from Chipotle after they raised concerns about working overtime and others with personal connections to the issue.

“One of the systems that is truly rigged against consumers and workers and the American people is our current system of forced arbitration,” Blumenthal said at the press conference, adding the practice denies people their “basic right” to turn to the court when they feel they have been wronged.