This bill would add a new chapter to title 9 of the United States Code that stops use of predispute arbitration agreements and predispute joint-action waivers for four kinds of disputes: employment, consumer, antitrust, and civil rights. It defines each type of dispute, says such predispute arbitration agreements and waivers are not valid or enforceable for those disputes, and says a court (not an arbitrator) must decide whether the new chapter applies. The bill also says it does not apply to arbitration provisions in collective bargaining agreements between employers and labor organizations, except that those provisions cannot waive a worker's right to seek judicial enforcement of constitutional or statutory rights. The bill takes effect on the date it is enacted and applies to disputes or claims that arise or accrue on or after that date.
If you are an individual, worker, or small business involved in an employment, consumer, antitrust, or civil rights claim that arises on or after the enactment date, a predispute arbitration clause or a predispute joint-action waiver in a contract would not be valid or enforceable for that claim. Courts, not arbitrators, would decide whether this new chapter applies. The bill preserves arbitration in collective bargaining agreements but keeps a worker's right to go to court for constitutional or statutory claims.
No publicly available information.
The bill's stated purposes are to prohibit predispute arbitration agreements that force arbitration of future employment, consumer, antitrust, or civil rights disputes and to prohibit agreements and practices that interfere with the right of individuals, workers, and small businesses to participate in joint, class, or collective actions related to those disputes.
No publicly available information.