Two years ago, Sen. Franken passed an amenedment that would ban government funding of defense contractors who forced employees to mandatory binding arbitration in the case of rape, assault, wrongful imprisonment, harassment, and discrimination. The amendment was inspired by the case of Jamie Leigh Jones, a KBR contractor who was wrongfully imprisoned and raped while in Iraq. Ms. Jones' trial started recently.

Like other alleged victims, Jones had signed a contract requiring her to deal with sexual assault allegations through arbitration. But in September 2009 a federal appeals court ruled that the case could go to court instead of arbitration. In October 2009, Jones testified before Congress in support of the Franken Amendment, now passed, which prohibits contractors with Pentagon contracts from using arbitration as opposed to the courts against ex-employees claiming sexual assault. "I had no idea that the clause was part of the contract, what the clause actually meant, or that I would eventually end up in this horrible situation," testified Jones.

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