In a case of first impression, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals held on February 25, 2026, that all claims in a sexual harassment case are prohibited from going to arbitration, not just the sexual harassment claim.
This decision means that employers will not be able to compel arbitration of other employment claims when there is a sexual harassment claim also alleged in the lawsuit.
In the case of Bruce v. Adams & Reese, paralegal Randi Marie Bruce alleged that she was sexually harassed by a partner at the law firm in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act during her employment. She also alleged that the firm had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to accommodate her disability and engage in the interactive process.
At or near the time of hire, Bruce had signed an arbitration agreement agreeing to arbitrate all disputes she had with her employer. But back in 2021, Congress passed into law the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA). The EFAA prohibits sending sexual harassment cases to arbitration rather than litigating them in open court if the parties’ arbitration agreement was signed before the dispute arose.
After Bruce filed her lawsuit, the employer filed a motion to dismiss the sexual harassment claims and a motion to compel the ADA claims to arbitration. The district court denied both motions, and the employer appealed to the Sixth Circuit.
In a 2-1 decision, the Sixth Circuit held that Bruce had alleged enough facts to state a sexual harassment claim, which meant that cause of action could not be sent to arbitration under the EFAA. And since that sexual harassment claim cannot be sent to arbitration, Bruce’s ADA claims also were improper for arbitration as a result of EFAA’s statutory text in a case of first impression in the Sixth Circuit (which covers Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan). The Sixth Circuit joins district courts in New York and the District of Columbia in similar holdings, i.e., that the EFAA bars arbitration of the entire case, not just sexual harassment claims. The case will now proceed toward discovery.
The impact of the Sixth Circuit’s decision means that sexual harassment cases will not be split into two different forums, with the sexual harassment claim being decided in court while the non-sexual harassment claims being decided in arbitration. Rather, the entire case will stay in court. In a day and age in which arbitration is heavily favored, the Sixth Circuit’s decision in Bruce gives arbitration a seemingly rare loss, thanks to the EFAA.