II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 505 

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 1, 2021 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. BROWN, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. 

CASEY, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. 

CANTWELL, Ms. CORTEZ MASTO, Mr. MURPHY, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. REED, 

Mr. DURBIN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. COONS, Ms. 

BALDWIN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. SMITH, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. CARPER, Ms. HASSAN, 

Mr. PETERS, Mr. BENNET, Mr. KAINE, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. PADILLA, 

Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. WARNOCK, and Mr. OSSOFF) 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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 The purposes of this Act are to— 

3 (1) prohibit predispute arbitration agreements 

4 that force arbitration of future employment, con5 sumer, antitrust, or civil rights disputes; and 

6 (2) prohibit agreements and practices that 

7 interfere with the right of individuals, workers, and 

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

9 collective action related to an employment, con10 sumer, antitrust, or civil rights dispute. 

11 SEC. 3. ARBITRATION OF EMPLOYMENT, CONSUMER, ANTI12 TRUST, AND CIVIL RIGHTS DISPUTES. 

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

14 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘CHAPTER 4—ARBITRATION OF EMPLOY16 MENT, CONSUMER, ANTITRUST, AND 

17 CIVIL RIGHTS DISPUTES 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘401. Definitions. 

‘‘402. No validity or enforceability. 

18 ‘‘§ 401. Definitions 

19 ‘‘In this chapter— 

20 ‘‘(1) the term ‘antitrust dispute’ means a dis21 pute— 

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

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


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1 of the first section of the Clayton Act (15 

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

3 ‘‘(B) in which the plaintiffs seek certifi4 cation as a class under rule 23 of the Federal 

5 Rules of Civil Procedure or a comparable rule 

6 or provision of State law; 

7 ‘‘(2) the term ‘civil rights dispute’ means a dis8 pute— 

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

10 ‘‘(i) the Constitution of the United 

11 States or the constitution of a State; or 

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

13 that prohibits discrimination on the basis 

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

15 orientation, disability, religion, national or16 igin, or any legally protected status in edu17 cation, employment, credit, housing, public 

18 accommodations and facilities, voting, vet19 erans or servicemembers, health care, or a 

20 program funded or conducted by the Fed21 eral Government or a State government, 

22 including any law referred to or described 

23 in section 62(e) of the Internal Revenue 

24 Code of 1986, including parts of such law 

25 not explicitly referenced in such section but 


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1 that relate to protecting individuals on any 

2 such basis; and 

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

4 violation described in subparagraph (A) is an 

5 individual (or an authorized representative of 

6 an individual), including an individual seeking 

7 certification as a class under rule 23 of the 

8 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or a com9 parable rule or provision of State law; 

10 ‘‘(3) the term ‘consumer dispute’ means a dis11 pute between— 

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

13 individual who seeks certification as a class 

14 under rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Pro15 cedure or a comparable rule or provision of 

16 State law, who seek or acquire real or personal 

17 property, services (including services related to 

18 digital technology), securities or other invest19 ments, money, or credit for personal, family, or 

20 household purposes; and 

21 ‘‘(B)(i) the seller or provider of such prop22 erty, services, securities or other investments, 

23 money, or credit; or 

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

25 providing of, payment for, receipt or use of inVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:19 Mar 31, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S505.IS S505

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1 formation about, or other relationship to any 

2 such property, services, securities or other in3 vestments, money, or credit; 

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

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

6 individuals (or their authorized representative) 

7 and a person arising out of or related to the 

8 work relationship or prospective work relation9 ship between them, including a dispute regard10 ing the terms of or payment for, advertising of, 

11 recruiting for, referring of, arranging for, or 

12 discipline or discharge in connection with, such 

13 work, regardless of whether the individual is or 

14 would be classified as an employee or an inde15 pendent contractor with respect to such work; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(B) includes— 

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

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

20 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, includ21 ing parts of such law not explicitly ref22 erenced in such section but that relate to 

23 protecting individuals on any such basis; 

24 and 


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

2 seeks certification as a class under rule 23 

3 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or 

4 as a collective action under section 16(b) 

5 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 

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

7 provision of State law; 

8 ‘‘(5) the term ‘predispute arbitration agree9 ment’ means an agreement to arbitrate a dispute 

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

11 of the agreement; and 

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

13 means an agreement, whether or not part of a 

14 predispute arbitration agreement, that would pro15 hibit, or waive the right of, one of the parties to the 

16 agreement to participate in a joint, class, or collec17 tive action in a judicial, arbitral, administrative, or 

18 other forum, concerning a dispute that has not yet 

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

20 ‘‘§ 402. No validity or enforceability 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro22 vision of this title, no predispute arbitration agreement or 

23 predispute joint-action waiver shall be valid or enforceable 

24 with respect to an employment dispute, consumer dispute, 

25 antitrust dispute, or civil rights dispute. 


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1 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY.— 

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

3 chapter applies with respect to a dispute shall be de4 termined under Federal law. The applicability of this 

5 chapter to an agreement to arbitrate and the validity 

6 and enforceability of an agreement to which this 

7 chapter applies shall be determined by a court, rath8 er than an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the 

9 party resisting arbitration challenges the arbitration 

10 agreement specifically or in conjunction with other 

11 terms of the contract containing such agreement, 

12 and irrespective of whether the agreement purports 

13 to delegate such determinations to an arbitrator. 

14 ‘‘(2) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.— 

15 Nothing in this chapter shall apply to any arbitra16 tion provision in a contract between an employer and 

17 a labor organization or between labor organizations, 

18 except that no such arbitration provision shall have 

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

20 judicial enforcement of a right arising under a provi21 sion of the Constitution of the United States, a 

22 State constitution, or a Federal or State statute, or 

23 public policy arising therefrom.’’. 

24 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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

2 Code is amended— 

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

4 and all that follows through ‘‘interstate com5 merce’’ and inserting ‘‘of individuals, regardless 

6 of whether the individuals are designated as 

7 employees or independent contractors for other 

8 purposes’’; 

9 (B) in section 2, by inserting ‘‘or as other10 wise provided in chapter 4’’ before the period at 

11 the end; 

12 (C) in section 208— 

13 (i) in the section heading, by striking 

14 ‘‘CHAPTER 1; RESIDUAL APPLICA15 TION’’ and inserting ‘‘APPLICATION’’; 

16 and 

17 (ii) by adding at the end the fol18 lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 

19 that this chapter is not in conflict with 

20 chapter 4.’’; and 

21 (D) in section 307— 

22 (i) in the section heading, by striking 

23 ‘‘CHAPTER 1; RESIDUAL APPLICA24 TION’’ and inserting ‘‘APPLICATION’’; 

25 and 


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1 (ii) by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 

3 that this chapter is not in conflict with 

4 chapter 4.’’. 

5 (2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.— 

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

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

8 amended by striking the item relating to section 

9 208 and inserting the following: 

‘‘208. Application.’’. 

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

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

12 amended by striking the item relating to section 

13 307 and inserting the following: 

‘‘307. Application.’’. 

14 (3) TABLE OF CHAPTERS.—The table for chap15 ters of title 9, United States Code, is amended by 

16 adding at the end the following: 

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

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

17 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

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

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

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

21 or accrues on or after such date. 

Æ 


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