THE FEDERAL “ENDING FORCED ARBITRATION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT ACT (EFAA)” PRECLUDED THE ENFORCEMENT OF A MANDATORY ARBITRATION CLAUSE IN A CONTRACT BETWEEN PLAINTIFF COLLEGE STUDENT AND HER SORORITY; THEREFORE PLAINTIFF COULD SUE THE SORORITY IN NEGLIGENCE FOR COMPELLING HER TO ATTEND A MIXER WHERE SHE WAS SEXUALLY ASSAULTED (SECOND DEPT). ​

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court in a matter of first impression, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Landicino, determined that the federal “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act” (EFAA) precluded arbitration in a negligence suit by a college student against her sorority. Plaintiff-student alleged she was compelled by her sorority to attend a mixer with a fraternity where she was sexually assaulted. The contract between plaintiff and the sorority included a mandatory arbitration clause:

This case presents an issue of first impression for this Court: whether the …. EFAA … can serve to prevent arbitration, notwithstanding an arbitration clause in a contract between the parties, of an action sounding in negligence against a party that did not commit the alleged sexual assault. We hold that it can, under the circumstances presented here.

… According to the complaint, the plaintiff attended SUNY Cortland and was a member of the [defendant] sorority … .. … [A] fraternity chapter, Pi Kappa Phi … , allegedly held a mixer event off campus … . According to the complaint, the plaintiff, as a member of the sorority, was “expected and obligated by [the] sorority to attend the mandatory mixer event to be hosted by the fraternity.” The fraternity purportedly provided alcohol and other intoxicating substances to the attendees at the mixer event, which caused the plaintiff to become impaired. Allegedly, while attending the mixer event, the plaintiff met a member of the fraternity (hereinafter the alleged abuser) who took the plaintiff to a nearby premises where he sexually assaulted her. * * *

The issue raised on this appeal is whether the plaintiff may invoke the EFAA to prevent arbitration of her claims where the sorority did not commit the alleged sexual assault. The plaintiff’s cause of action in this matter does not sound in sexual assault. Rather, the cause of action sounds in negligence based on the alleged failure of the sorority to supervise and protect its members at a function that the members were required to attend, which exposed the plaintiff to the sexual assault. The question is whether the EFAA can bar arbitration of a complaint sounding in negligence only. * * *

… [A]lthough the sorority contends that the plaintiff’s cause of action sounds in negligence as opposed to sexual assault, that distinction is immaterial here. The negligence cause of action is “related” to the sexual assault dispute alleged in the complaint, which is all that is required under the EFAA … . While the sorority is a third party that was not directly involved in the sexual assault, the negligence claim is nonetheless “related” to the sexual assault dispute inasmuch as the plaintiff contends that the sorority placed her in a dangerous circumstance that led to the sexual assault. There is a clear logical nexus between the cause of action alleged in the complaint and the alleged sexual assault, which places this matter squarely within the ambit of the EFAA. C.N. v Sigma Delta Tau Socy., 2026 NY Slip Op 05405, Second Dept 9-23-26

Practice Point: Here plaintiff student sued her sorority in negligence for compelling her to attend a mixer with a fraternity where she was sexually assaulted. Plaintiff’s contract with the sorority included a mandatory arbitration clause. The federal “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act” (EFAA) applied to these facts to preclude enforcement of the arbitration clause.