The activist behind the divisive #GrabYourWallet campaign, which urged boycotts of retailers carrying products from Trump family businesses, has a new target: the confidential procedures used by many employers to handle sexual harassment claims.
As The Washington Post reports, Shannon Coulter emailed some 500 companies, asking detailed questions about their arbitration policies for sexual harassment, which require employees to resolve complaints out of court. She and her partners, social impact investor Rachel Robasciotti and principal Iris Kuo, then published their answers on a public site, listing contact details for company representatives.
So far, Coulter says, more than 100 companies including IBM and Delta Air Lines say they don’t currently use the practice or never have. A handful of others including Pfizer and Morgan Stanley say they mandate it for U.S. employees or have an opt-out policy. (Nearly 370 companies have not responded.) ExxonMobil is listed as “probably having” arbitration policies.
Coulter’s effort is one of a wave of campaigns against mandatory arbitration and nondisclosure agreements. Research has found arbitration more often settles cases in employers’ favor, and critics say it can mask corporate cultures that protect serial harassers. Several large law firms have ended the practice after a group of elite law school students protested, and Google employee protests prompted the search giant to change its policy in 2018, a decision other tech companies have also made.
Besides Coulter’s efforts, investors have filed at least 11 shareholder proposals this year to get companies such as Tesla and Dollar General to disclose more on the issue, according to Whistle Stop Capital principal Meredith Benton. Read the full story.
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