Welcome to Axis ProRata, a podcast that takes just 10 minutes to get you smarter on the collision of tech business and politics.

I'm Dan Pramak. On today's show, Uber's big speed bump on the way to IPO and President Trump's very challenging electoral map for 2020.

But first, how Silicon Valley handles sexual harassment. So earlier this month, thousands of Google

employees walked out of work in protest of the company's gross mishandling of sexual harassment

and assault claims, including a couple situations where the company paid male executives

millions of dollars to quietly walk away. Now, one of the biggest complaints of those walking out

was around forced arbitration,

a policy whereby Google employees claiming workplace harassment are unable to pursue their cases in

court. Instead, the claims get decided in private by an arbiter. No judge, no jury, no appeal,

no right to ever sue. And that also goes for class action lawsuits. Now, it's a system

designed to protect companies, but it's also one that has clearly hurt way too many employees.

So following the walkout, Google changed course. And within days, so did companies like Airbnb,

Facebook, eBay, and Square. And there are some big tech companies, like Amazon and Salesforce, that never had such a policy.

But far too many, including big names like Netflix and Tesla and Slack, continue to employ it.

So the bottom line here is there have been concerns about how the Me Too movement has been successful in rooting out some very famous bad actors,

but not so much when it comes to more prevalent sexual harassment claims by men who aren't household names.

Making big policy decisions, like ending forced arbitration, is an important step toward that more inclusive goal.

In 15 seconds, we'll go deeper on this with Axios chief

tech correspondent, Inafreed. But first, this. Axios gives you the news and analysis you need

to get smarter faster on the most important topics. In our unique smart brevity format, we cover

topics from politics to science and media to tech. Subscribe to get smarter faster at signup.axios.com.

And now, back to the pro rata podcast. We're joined now by Inna Freed, Axios' chief technology correspondent.

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