In Shaw v. Salesforce, Inc., No. 25-CV-01372-PAB-STV, 2026 WL 787990 (D. Colo. Mar. 20, 2026), the court, inter alia, rejected plaintiff’s contention that she was not required to arbitrate her hostile work environment claim, under the Ending Forced Arbitration Agreements Act (“EFAA”).
After summarizing the black-letter law, the court applied it to the facts as follows:
In this case, plaintiff alleges that she was subjected to a hostile work environment, but she does not plead any conduct which shows that this hostile work environment was due to her sex. Plaintiff alleges that she was “frequently bullied, denigrated, and generally marginalized,” but she does not allege that this bullying or denigration was on the basis of her being a woman. Plaintiff also alleges that she reported Mr. Ragineni for discrimination, but does not state whether Mr. Ragineni discriminated against her based on her sex. Plaintiff’s allegation that Mr. Ragineni promoted Indian men over her is a claim of disparate treatment, not of harassment, and it is not alleged that this disparate treatment was because of her sex. Thus, even under the more relaxed standard of Diaz-Roa, plaintiff does not allege conduct which constitutes sexual harassment—even if sexual harassment is defined as harassment on the basis of sex. Moreover, none of plaintiff’s claims are labeled as sexual harassment claims. Instead, both the Title VII and CADA claims are titled “Race and Sex Discrimination and Retaliation.” The Court finds that plaintiff voluntarily signed the arbitration agreement. The Court also finds that the dispute is within the scope of the arbitration agreement, which covers, among other things, “disputes regarding the employment relationship, … termination, discrimination or harassment, and claims arising under the … Civil Rights Act of 1964, … and all other state statutory and common law claims.”
(Cleaned up.)
Based on this, the court held that the EFAA does not invalidate the parties’ arbitration agreement, and thus that plaintiff must arbitrate her claims.