As a result of the #MeToo movement, a number of changes to laws are being contemplated or should be considered, including the following:

1. Nondisclosure Agreements

Remove mandatory nondisclosure and confidentiality provisions involving sexual harassment claims (and block courts from enforcing such provisions). Barring secrecy would allow predators to be held accountable and would likely discourage them from repeating bad behavior. These types of provisions are used by employers to force silence, protecting the company’s reputation and bottom line.

2. Forced Arbitration Provisions

Remove forced arbitration agreements involving sexual harassment and discrimination claims (and block courts from enforcing such provisions). These agreements are often required as a condition to employment and eliminate the Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial. Employers use these types of agreements to handle workplace disputes internally, avoiding the courts and the high cost of potentially protracted litigation. A bipartisan group of lawmakers—including senators Kirstin Gillibrand of New York and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, with the assistance of Gretchen Carlson—have introduced a bill for a federal law to end forced arbitration for harassment and gender discrimination, which keeps some sixty million Americans from being able to use the courts to settle cases. The  attorneys general of every American state and every US territory have banded together to support this effort.

3. Statute of Limitations

Extend or  eliminate statutes of limitations  for sexual misconduct or assault cases. Current time periods vary from state to state and appear to be arbitrary. Connecticut, for example, has a five-year of statute of limitations (subject to certain exceptions), while, last year, California became the seventeenth state to eliminate statute of limitations periods for such crimes. The issue regarding statutes of limitations is controversial. Statute of limitations periods are intended to exact a toll on justice by allowing victims proper time to process their traumatic experiences and to file claims, but they are also intended to protect a defendant against stale claims after a certain period of time, within which a diligent person would have accused the defendant. Memories and details fade, and witnesses may disappear, risking wrongful conviction or unfair prosecution.

4. Require Company Reporting

Regular reporting requirements regarding the number of sexual harassment claims filed, settlement amounts, and corrective actions taken would foster accountability and transparency, helping deter bad behavior.

5. Lawsuits under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Title VII  should be amended to hold that individual harassers may be sued, not just the corporate employer. If harassers see their own careers, houses, and assets on the line in litigation, that may be a more powerful deterrent than all of the talk shows and corporate sensitivity training combined.

6. Title VII and the Fifteen-Employee Requirement

Change Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to eliminate the fifteen-employee threshold and include all working people, regardless of field or employment classification.

7. Legislate a 30 Percent Quota

Legislate a required percentage quota for women in leadership positions. According to some surveys, 30 percent is the magic number—“the tipping point at which women stop being a beleaguered minority—tokens, unable to change organizational culture—and serve as effective change agents.”

8. New Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

​The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act recently passed by Congress limits the deductions that businesses may take for attorney’s fees or payments of sexual harassment settlements. Under the act, “no deduction shall be allowed . . . .for (1) any settlement or payment related to sexual harassment or sexual abuse if such settlement or payment is subject to a nondisclosure agreement , or (2) attorney’s fees related to such a settlement or payment” (emphasis ours). This new act will hopefully encourage companies to become more diligent in policing sexual harassment behavior and to eliminate the use of nondisclosure agreements in such situations.