Three annual meetings. Alleged assaults at two. And an arbitration clause that couldn’t contain it
TransDigm’s bid to push its former top lawyer’s harassment claims into private arbitration just hit a wall.
An Ohio appeals court on October 22, 2026 reversed a trial court’s dismissal of sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation claims brought by the aerospace company’s former general counsel - and blocked TransDigm Group Inc. from compelling arbitration on any part of the case.
The former general counsel joined TransDigm in December 2018 and became General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Secretary by February 2023. Her complaint alleged harassment across three annual management meetings.
At the 2021 meeting, an operating unit president allegedly followed her to her hotel room and tried to kiss her. In 2023, a different operating president allegedly insisted on dancing with female employees and only stopped when a male colleague stepped in. Then came 2024: a third operating unit president allegedly choked her from behind, knocked off her hat, kissed her face, and smacked her hip and backside - in front of other employees.
Both the 2021 and 2024 individuals were terminated but received substantial severance despite no contractual entitlement, the complaint alleged.
When she reported the 2024 incident, the co-chief operating officer asked what she had done to cause the assault and noted the individual was “a good president,” according to the filing. When she raised the broader pattern, the then-CEO told her she was “making a mountain out of a molehill.”
The complaint described wider discriminatory conduct. The co-COO allegedly called the company’s predominantly female finance vice presidents “gossips,” dismissed sexual harassment and discrimination training as a “waste of time,” and during her interview for the top legal role, asked whether she could balance motherhood with the job.
In July 2025, she learned she would be replaced by what the complaint called “an objectively less qualified male.” Separation talks failed, and TransDigm moved to arbitrate.
The trial court sided with the company. The Eighth District Court of Appeals did not - finding the complaint set out enough detail to keep all three claims alive, which triggered the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA). That federal law lets employees alleging sexual harassment take their claims to court, even if they previously agreed to arbitrate.
The kicker: the court held the EFAA covered the entire case, not just the harassment claims. One viable harassment allegation pulled every claim - including breach of contract - into open court.
For HR teams that lean on arbitration clauses, the message is plain: one harassment allegation that clears an early procedural bar can take your whole employment dispute public.
The case returns to trial court. The allegations have not been tested on their merits, and no findings of fact have been made.
