When the Senate on Oct. 6 approved the 2010 Defense appropriations bill, it included an amendment introduced by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., to withhold defense contracts from companies that restrict their employees from resolving in court any Title VII employment discrimination complaints and sexual assault claims.

The federal government has increasingly relied on civilian contractors to handle the rebuilding of infrastructure in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many contractor employees assume incorrectly that they have the right to bring their employers to court. Instead, buried within some employee contracts are binding arbitration clauses that permit them to bring claims only through arbitration, a process by which a designated third party — often chosen by the company — holds a hearing and makes a decision outside the review of the courts. There are limited appeal options from binding arbitration. Moreover, many of these employment contracts are administered abroad, where women are the most vulnerable and least likely to have support resources available.

Franken's amendment was prompted by the case of Jamie Leigh Jones, a former Halliburton employee who alleged in 2007 that she was raped by multiple co-workers while serving as a contractor in Iraq in 2005. Jones attempted to bring her case to court, but Halliburton argued that her employment agreement required her to pursue her claim through binding arbitration. While the Justice Department had the opportunity to pursue the claim and hold Halliburton accountable, no charges were brought. After an extended legal battle, Jones won the right to bring a civil suit against Halliburton by arguing that the crime exceeded the scope of her employment contract.

The bill, with the added Senate amendment, must now be reconciled with the House version passed in July. Then it will be ready for President Barack Obama's review and signature.

The amendment would guarantee employees hired by defense contractors the right to bring to court workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases. Employees also could more easily bring to court claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring and Title VII civil rights violations.

One issue with the amendment, however, is that it does not oblige contractors to modify existing employment contracts. Instead, it blocks funds to contractors that include mandatory arbitration clauses in future employment contracts. Thus, forced arbitration clauses remain in the thousands of contracts held by current contractor employees. Those employees can still turn to the Labor Department's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, which oversees complaints based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability and veterans protection. This office can investigate and sometimes compel a contractor to mediate or settle a complaint that has merit, even if the employee has signed an arbitration agreement.

The amendment also raises larger questions about the legality of forced arbitration in employee, and even consumer, contracts. Many contracts with credit card companies, cell phone carriers and private employers, have forced arbitration clauses that limit or foreclose the ability to bring complaints to court.

There is a big difference between mediation and arbitration in that mediation, which I support, is not binding and either party can walk away up until settlement. Arbitration is binding and the employer usually selects the arbitrator.

To protect yourself, read all contracts you are asked to sign, to become aware of any forced arbitration clauses. If you are not comfortable signing a contract with such a clause, ask a lawyer what you can do to remedy the situation. Oftentimes an arbitration clause can be modified so that the parties agree to mediate a dispute before filing legal action. It is much harder to resolve a clause after a contract has been signed. å

Greg Rinckey, a former military and federal attorney, is managing partner of Tully, Rinckey and Associates of Albany, N.Y. E-mail your legal questions to askthelawyer@federaltimes.com.