M&W Case Alert – Harassment Claims May be Subject to Mandatory Arbitration
State and Federal Courts Strike Down Anti-Arbitration Provision of 2019 Amendment to the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. In March 2019 Governor Murphy signed into law Senate Bill S121, which amended the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination by (i) prohibiting non-disclosure provisions in settlement agreements; and (ii) prohibiting mandatory arbitration and jury waiver clauses in employment contracts. Management side attorneys doubted the validity of the arbitration prohibition as potentially preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act pursuant to the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Two years later, both a Superior Court Judge and the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey have agreed.