II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 121

To amend certain Federal civil rights statutes to prevent the involuntary

application of arbitration to claims that arise from unlawful employment

discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age,

or disability, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 19, 1999

Mr. FEINGOLD introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To amend certain Federal civil rights statutes to prevent

the involuntary application of arbitration to claims that

arise from unlawful employment discrimination based on

race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Civil Rights Proce5 dures Protection Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO TITLE VII OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS

2 ACT OF 1964.

3 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C.

4 2000e et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the follow5 ing new section:

6 ‘‘SEC. 719. EXCLUSIVITY OF POWERS AND PROCEDURES.

7 ‘‘Notwithstanding any Federal law (other than a Fed8 eral law that expressly refers to this title) that would oth9 erwise modify any of the powers and procedures expressly

10 applicable to a right or claim arising under this title, such

11 powers and procedures shall be the exclusive powers and

12 procedures applicable to such right or such claim unless

13 after such right or such claim arises the claimant volun14 tarily enters into an agreement to enforce such right or

15 resolve such claim through arbitration or another proce16 dure.’’.

17 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE AGE DISCRIMINATION IN EM18 PLOYMENT ACT OF 1967.

19 The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967

20 (29 U.S.C. 621 et seq.) is amended—

21 (1) by redesignating sections 16 and 17 as sec22 tions 17 and 18, respectively; and

23 (2) by inserting after section 15 the following

24 new section 16:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 16. EXCLUSIVITY OF POWERS AND PROCEDURES.

2 ‘‘Notwithstanding any Federal law (other than a Fed3 eral law that expressly refers to this Act) that would other4 wise modify any of the powers and procedures expressly

5 applicable to a right or claim arising under this Act, such

6 powers and procedures shall be the exclusive powers and

7 procedures applicable to such right or such claim unless

8 after such right or such claim arises the claimant volun9 tarily enters into an agreement to enforce such right or

10 resolve such claim through arbitration or another proce11 dure.’’.

12 SEC. 4. AMENDMENT TO THE REHABILITATION ACT OF

13 1973.

14 Section 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29

15 U.S.C. 794a) is amended by adding at the end the follow16 ing new subsection:

17 ‘‘(c) Notwithstanding any Federal law (other than a

18 Federal law that expressly refers to this title) that would

19 otherwise modify any of the powers and procedures ex20 pressly applicable to a right or claim arising under section

21 501, such powers and procedures shall be the exclusive

22 powers and procedures applicable to such right or such

23 claim unless after such right or such claim arises the

24 claimant voluntarily enters into an agreement to enforce

25 such right or resolve such claim through arbitration or an26 other procedure.’’.
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1 SEC. 5. AMENDMENT TO THE AMERICANS WITH DISABIL2 ITIES ACT OF 1990.

3 Section 107 of the Americans with Disabilities Act

4 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12117) is amended by adding at the

5 end the following new subsection:

6 ‘‘(c) Notwithstanding any Federal law (other than a

7 Federal law that expressly refers to this Act) that would

8 otherwise modify any of the powers and procedures ex9 pressly applicable to a right or claim based on a violation

10 described in subsection (a), such powers and procedures

11 shall be the exclusive powers and procedures applicable to

12 such right or such claim unless after such right or such

13 claim arises the claimant voluntarily enters into an agree14 ment to enforce such right or resolve such claim through

15 arbitration or another procedure.’’.

16 SEC. 6. AMENDMENT TO SECTION 1977 OF THE REVISED

17 STATUTES.

18 Section 1977 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C.

19 1981) is amended by adding at the end the following new

20 subsection:

21 ‘‘(d) Notwithstanding any Federal law (other than a

22 Federal law that expressly refers to this section) that

23 would otherwise modify any of the powers and procedures

24 expressly applicable to a right or claim concerning making

25 and enforcing a contract of employment under this sec26 tion, such powers and procedures shall be the exclusive
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1 powers and procedures applicable to such right or such

2 claim unless after such right or such claim arises the

3 claimant voluntarily enters into an agreement to enforce

4 such right or resolve such claim through arbitration or an5 other procedure.’’.

6 SEC. 7. AMENDMENT TO THE EQUAL PAY REQUIREMENT

7 UNDER THE FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT OF

8 1938.

9 Section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of

10 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(d)) is amended by adding at the end

11 the following new paragraph:

12 ‘‘(5) Notwithstanding any Federal law (other than a

13 Federal law that expressly refers to this Act) that would

14 otherwise modify any of the powers and procedures ex15 pressly applicable to a right or claim arising under this

16 subsection, such powers and procedures shall be the exclu17 sive powers and procedures applicable to such right or

18 such claim unless after such right or such claim arises

19 the claimant voluntarily enters into an agreement to en20 force such right or resolve such claim through arbitration

21 or another procedure.’’.

22 SEC. 8. AMENDMENT TO THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE

23 ACT OF 1993.

24 Title IV of the Family and Medical Leave Act of

25 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2651 et seq.) is amended—
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1 (1) by redesignating section 405 as section 406;

2 and

3 (2) by inserting after section 404 the following

4 new section:

5 ‘‘SEC. 405. EXCLUSIVITY OF REMEDIES.

6 ‘‘Notwithstanding any Federal law (other than a Fed7 eral law that expressly refers to this Act or a provision

8 of subchapter V of chapter 63 of title 5, United States

9 Code) that would modify any of the powers and procedures

10 expressly applicable to a right or claim arising under this

11 Act or under such subchapter such powers and procedures

12 shall be the exclusive powers and procedures applicable to

13 such right or such claim unless after such right or such

14 claim arises the claimant voluntarily enters into an agree15 ment to enforce such right or resolve such claim through

16 arbitration or another procedure.’’.

17 SEC. 9. AMENDMENT TO TITLE 9, UNITED STATES CODE.

18 Section 14 of title 9, United States Code, is

19 amended—

20 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘This’’; and

21 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub22 section:

23 ‘‘(b) This chapter shall not apply with respect to a

24 claim of unlawful discrimination in employment if such
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1 claim arises from discrimination based on race, color, reli2 gion, sex, national origin, age, or disability.’’.

3 SEC. 10. APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.

4 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with

5 respect to claims arising not later than the date of enact6 ment of this Act.

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