On September 2, 2025, NWLC, American Association for Justice, and the National Employment Lawyers Association filed an amicus brief in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Puris v. Tik Tok. The brief argues that the Second Circuit should affirm the district court’s ruling that the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (EFAA) permits the plaintiff, Katie Ellen Puris, to bring her entire case in court because it includes sex-based harassment and retaliation claims. 

As the brief notes, Congress passed the EFAA in 2022 to ensure that survivors of sexual assault and sex-based harassment could seek justice in court instead of being forced into arbitration proceedings. The brief argues that the EFAA’s plain text, legislative history, and case law all confirm that, under the EFAA, plaintiffs can invalidate arbitration agreements if sex-based harassment has occurred, even if this harassment is not sexual in nature. Moreover, a plaintiff’s invalidation of an arbitration agreement under the EFAA applies to the entire case that contains the sex harassment claim, not just the harassment claim itself. The brief explains that the EFAA’s intentionally expansive definition of sex-based harassment and its intent to keep entire cases together protect survivors, promote efficiency, and accord with the realities of how survivors experience assault and harassment. Thus, the brief argues, the district court was correct to permit Ms. Puris’s entire case to proceed in court. Read the full brief here.