When an employer agrees to a contract that prohibits an employee from pursuing a separate separate proceedings, does the employee have to pursue the separate proceedings?

The separate proceedings clause in this case is no different. Under the clause, the employee is obligated to pursue work-related claims individually and, no matter the outcome, is bound by the result. This restriction is the very antithesis of 7's substantive right to pursue concerted work-related legal claims. For the same reason, the Seventh Circuit recently concluded that [a] contract that limits Section 7 rights that is agreed to as a condition of continued employment qualifies as interfer[ing] with or restrain[ing] ... employees in the exercise of those rights in violation of Section 8(a)(1). Lewis v. Epic Sys. Corp. , 823 F.3d 1147, 1155 (7th Cir. 2016). Indeed, 7 rights would amount to very little if employers could simply require their waiver.