II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 610 

To amend title 9 of the United States Code with respect to arbitration. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2019 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BROWN, Ms. SMITH, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. UDALL, 

Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. 

WYDEN, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. CASEY, Mr. KAINE, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. REED, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. 

MENENDEZ, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mrs. MURRAY, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Ms. 

BALDWIN, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. ROSEN, and 

Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 9 of the United States Code with respect 

to arbitration. 

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 ‘‘Forced Arbitration In5 justice Repeal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are to— 


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1 (1) prohibit predispute arbitration agreements 

2 that force arbitration of future employment, con3 sumer, antitrust, or civil rights disputes; and 

4 (2) prohibit agreements and practices that 

5 interfere with the right of individuals, workers, and 

6 small businesses to participate in a joint, class, or 

7 collective action related to an employment, con8 sumer, antitrust, or civil rights dispute. 

9 SEC. 3. ARBITRATION OF EMPLOYMENT, CONSUMER, ANTI10 TRUST, AND CIVIL RIGHTS DISPUTES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States Code 

12 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘CHAPTER 4—ARBITRATION OF EMPLOY14 MENT, CONSUMER, ANTITRUST, AND 

15 CIVIL RIGHTS DISPUTES 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘401. Definitions. 

‘‘402. No validity or enforceability. 

16 ‘‘§ 401. Definitions 

17 ‘‘In this chapter— 

18 ‘‘(1) the term ‘antitrust dispute’ means a dis19 pute— 

20 ‘‘(A) arising from an alleged violation of 

21 the antitrust laws (as defined in subsection (a) 

22 of the first section of the Clayton Act (15 

23 U.S.C. 12(a)) or State antitrust laws; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) in which the plaintiffs seek certifi2 cation as a class under rule 23 of the Federal 

3 Rules of Civil Procedure or a comparable rule 

4 or provision of State law; 

5 ‘‘(2) the term ‘civil rights dispute’ means a dis6 pute— 

7 ‘‘(A) arising from an alleged violation of— 

8 ‘‘(i) the Constitution of the United 

9 States or the constitution of a State; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) any Federal, State, or local law 

11 that prohibits discrimination on the basis 

12 of race, sex, age, gender identity, sexual 

13 orientation, disability, religion, national or14 igin, or any legally protected status in edu15 cation, employment, credit, housing, public 

16 accommodations and facilities, voting, vet17 erans or servicemembers, health care, or a 

18 program funded or conducted by the Fed19 eral Government or a State government, 

20 including any law referred to or described 

21 in section 62(e) of the Internal Revenue 

22 Code of 1986, including parts of such law 

23 not explicitly referenced in such section but 

24 that relate to protecting individuals on any 

25 such basis; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) in which at least 1 party alleging a 

2 violation described in subparagraph (A) is an 

3 individual (or an authorized representative of 

4 an individual), including an individual seeking 

5 certification as a class under rule 23 of the 

6 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or a com7 parable rule or provision of State law; 

8 ‘‘(3) the term ‘consumer dispute’ means a dis9 pute between— 

10 ‘‘(A) 1 or more individuals, including an 

11 individual who seeks certification as a class 

12 under rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Pro13 cedure or a comparable rule or provision of 

14 State law, who seek or acquire real or personal 

15 property, services (including services related to 

16 digital technology), securities or other invest17 ments, money, or credit for personal, family, or 

18 household purposes; and 

19 ‘‘(B)(i) the seller or provider of such prop20 erty, services, securities or other investments, 

21 money, or credit; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) a third party involved in the selling, 

23 providing of, payment for, receipt or use of in24 formation about, or other relationship to any 


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1 such property, services, securities or other in2 vestments, money, or credit; 

3 ‘‘(4) the term ‘employment dispute’— 

4 ‘‘(A) means a dispute between 1 or more 

5 individuals (or their authorized representative) 

6 and a person arising out of or related to the 

7 work relationship or prospective work relation8 ship between them, including a dispute regard9 ing the terms of or payment for, advertising of, 

10 recruiting for, referring of, arranging for, or 

11 discipline or discharge in connection with, such 

12 work, regardless of whether the individual is or 

13 would be classified as an employee or an inde14 pendent contractor with respect to such work; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) includes— 

17 ‘‘(i) a dispute arising under any law 

18 referred to or described in section 62(e) of 

19 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, includ20 ing parts of such law not explicitly ref21 erenced in such section but that relate to 

22 protecting individuals on any such basis; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(ii) a dispute in which an individual 

25 seeks certification as a class under rule 23 


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1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or 

2 as a collective action under section 16(b) 

3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 

4 U.S.C. 216(b)), or a comparable rule or 

5 provision of State law; 

6 ‘‘(5) the term ‘predispute arbitration agree7 ment’ means an agreement to arbitrate a dispute 

8 that has not yet arisen at the time of the making 

9 of the agreement; and 

10 ‘‘(6) the term ‘predispute joint-action waiver’ 

11 means an agreement, whether or not part of a 

12 predispute arbitration agreement, that would pro13 hibit, or waive the right of, one of the parties to the 

14 agreement to participate in a joint, class, or collec15 tive action in a judicial, arbitral, administrative, or 

16 other forum, concerning a dispute that has not yet 

17 arisen at the time of the making of the agreement. 

18 ‘‘§ 402. No validity or enforceability 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro20 vision of this title, no predispute arbitration agreement or 

21 predispute joint-action waiver shall be valid or enforceable 

22 with respect to an employment dispute, consumer dispute, 

23 antitrust dispute, or civil rights dispute. 

24 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An issue as to whether this 

2 chapter applies with respect to a dispute shall be de3 termined under Federal law. The applicability of this 

4 chapter to an agreement to arbitrate and the validity 

5 and enforceability of an agreement to which this 

6 chapter applies shall be determined by a court, rath7 er than an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the 

8 party resisting arbitration challenges the arbitration 

9 agreement specifically or in conjunction with other 

10 terms of the contract containing such agreement, 

11 and irrespective of whether the agreement purports 

12 to delegate such determinations to an arbitrator. 

13 ‘‘(2) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.— 

14 Nothing in this chapter shall apply to any arbitra15 tion provision in a contract between an employer and 

16 a labor organization or between labor organizations, 

17 except that no such arbitration provision shall have 

18 the effect of waiving the right of a worker to seek 

19 judicial enforcement of a right arising under a provi20 sion of the Constitution of the United States, a 

21 State constitution, or a Federal or State statute, or 

22 public policy arising therefrom.’’. 

23 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States 

25 Code is amended— 


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1 (A) in section 1, by striking ‘‘of seamen,’’ 

2 and all that follows through ‘‘interstate com3 merce’’ and inserting ‘‘of individuals, regardless 

4 of whether the individuals are designated as 

5 employees or independent contractors for other 

6 purposes’’; 

7 (B) in section 2, by inserting ‘‘or as other8 wise provided in chapter 4’’ before the period at 

9 the end; 

10 (C) in section 208— 

11 (i) in the section heading, by striking 

12 ‘‘CHAPTER 1; RESIDUAL APPLICA13 TION’’ and inserting ‘‘APPLICATION’’; 

14 and 

15 (ii) by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 

17 that this chapter is not in conflict with 

18 chapter 4.’’; and 

19 (D) in section 307— 

20 (i) in the section heading, by striking 

21 ‘‘CHAPTER 1; RESIDUAL APPLICA22 TION’’ and inserting ‘‘APPLICATION’’; 

23 and 

24 (ii) by adding at the end the fol25 lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 


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1 that this chapter is not in conflict with 

2 chapter 4.’’. 

3 (2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.— 

4 (A) CHAPTER 2.—The table of sections for 

5 chapter 2 of title 9, United States Code, is 

6 amended by striking the item relating to section 

7 208 and inserting the following: 

‘‘208. Application.’’. 

8 (B) CHAPTER 3.—The table of sections for 

9 chapter 3 of title 9, United States Code, is 

10 amended by striking the item relating to section 

11 307 and inserting the following: 

‘‘307. Application.’’. 

12 (3) TABLE OF CHAPTERS.—The table for chap13 ters of title 9, United States Code, is amended by 

14 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘4. Arbitration of employment, consumer, antitrust, and 

civil rights disputes .............................................. 401’’. 

15 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

16 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 

17 shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act and 

18 shall apply with respect to any dispute or claim that arises 

19 or accrues on or after such date. 

Æ 


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