SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 32

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2010

INTRODUCED BY

Cisco McSorley

A JOINT MEMORIAL

CONDEMNING THE INCLUSION IN CONTRACTS OF CLAUSES THAT LIMIT THE RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS EMPLOYED UNDER THOSE CONTRACTS TO PURSUE LEGAL ACTION IN CASES OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND CALLING UPON ALL BRANCHES OF STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO REFUSE TO CONTRACT WITH ANY ENTITY HAVING EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS CONTAINING SUCH CLAUSES.

     WHEREAS, federal, state and local branches of government engage in contracts every year to accomplish special projects and complete the work of government; and

     WHEREAS, these contracts collectively exceed billions of dollars in expenditures each year; and

     WHEREAS, the content and provisions of such contracts are legitimately within the purview of the governments that hold them, and those governments have an obligation to ensure that public expenditures are made only for reasonable purposes; and

     WHEREAS, contractors frequently subcontract with employees to conduct the work required by the government contract; and

     WHEREAS, the content and provisions of subcontracts should, in no way, abridge the rights of individuals employed under them to seek legal recourse in instances of alleged sexual assault, battery or discrimination; and

     WHEREAS, sexual assault takes many forms, including rape, attempted rape, unwanted sexual contact and threats; and

     WHEREAS, Jamie Leigh Jones, an employee of Halliburton/KBR, alleges that in 2005 she was drugged and gang-raped by seven American contractors while working in Baghdad and that she was subsequently detained in a shipping carton for at least twenty-four hours under armed guard; and

     WHEREAS, Ms. Jones was prevented from taking legal action against her attackers or against the company because of a clause in her employment contract that stipulated that sexual assault allegations only be heard in private arbitration; and     WHEREAS, clauses such as the one in Ms. Jones's employment contract may have the potential of creating a climate in which some workers believe they can get away with crimes such as sexual assault; and

     WHEREAS, on October 6, 2009, the United States senate approved by a vote of sixty-eight to thirty an amendment to the 2010 department of defense appropriations bill, sponsored by Senator Al Franken, to withhold defense contracts from companies if they require their employees or independent contractors to sign mandatory arbitration clauses regarding claims of sexual assault, battery or discrimination; and

     WHEREAS, any clause, in any subcontract of any government-funded contract, that seeks to limit the right of an individual to seek legal recourse in cases of alleged sexual assault, battery or discrimination should be condemned, and no government should enter into a contract with any entity that includes such clauses in its employment contracts;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the inclusion in contracts of clauses that limit the rights of individuals employed under those contracts to pursue legal action in cases of sexual assault be condemned; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all branches of state and local government be called upon to refuse to contract with any entity having employment contracts containing such clauses; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all branches of state and local government identify whether they are in such a contractual relationship and, if they are, that such contracts by discontinued, and a report of this action be made to the department of finance and administration and the legislative council service; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the New Mexico congressional delegation, the governor, the New Mexico legislature, the administrative office of the courts, the New Mexico association of counties and the New Mexico municipal league.

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