I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7020 

To provide a cause of action for violations of laws related to COVID– 

19, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 26, 2020 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, and Mr. 

CARTWRIGHT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To provide a cause of action for violations of laws related 

to COVID–19, 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 ‘‘COVID Justice and 

5 Accountability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CAUSE OF ACTION FOR VIOLATIONS OF COVID–19 

7 LAWS. 

8 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an indi9 vidual may bring a cause of action in the appropriate dis10 trict court of the United States against any person who 


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1 violates or fails to comply with a requirement under the 

2 CARES Act (Public Law 116–136) or the Families First 

3 Coronavirus Response Act (Public Law 116–127), or an 

4 amendment made by each such Act, for harm that the in5 dividual suffered as a result of such violation or failure. 

6 SEC. 3. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF ARBITRATION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi8 sion of this law, during the covered emergency period no 

9 predispute arbitration agreement or predispute joint-ac10 tion waiver shall be valid or enforceable with respect to 

11 an employment dispute, consumer dispute, antitrust dis12 pute, or civil rights dispute. 

13 (b) APPLICABILITY.— 

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

15 section applies with respect to a dispute shall be de16 termined under Federal law. The applicability of this 

17 section to an agreement to arbitrate and the validity 

18 and enforceability of an agreement to which this sec19 tion applies shall be determined by a court, rather 

20 than an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the party 

21 resisting arbitration challenges the arbitration agree22 ment specifically or in conjunction with other terms 

23 of the contract containing such agreement, and irre24 spective of whether the agreement purports to dele25 gate such determinations to an arbitrator. 


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1 (2) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.— 

2 Nothing in this section shall apply to any arbitration 

3 provision in a contract between an employer and a 

4 labor organization or between labor organizations, 

5 except that no such arbitration provision shall have 

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

7 judicial enforcement of a right arising under a provi8 sion of the Constitution of the United States, a 

9 State constitution, or a Federal or State statute, or 

10 public policy arising therefrom. 

11 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) The term ‘‘covered emergency period’’ 

13 means the period beginning on the date on which the 

14 President declared a national emergency under the 

15 National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 

16 with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 

17 (COVID–19) and ending on the date that is 180 

18 days after such emergency is terminated. 

19 (2) The term ‘‘antitrust dispute’’ means a dis20 pute— 

21 (A) arising from an alleged violation of the 

22 antitrust laws (as defined in subsection (a) of 

23 the first section of the Clayton Act) or State 

24 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 (3) 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; and 

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 State government, in20 cluding any law referred to or described in 

21 section 62(e) of the Internal Revenue Code 

22 of 1986, including parts of such law not 

23 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 one party alleging a 

2 violation described in subparagraph (A) is one 

3 or more individuals (or their authorized rep4 resentative), including one or more individuals 

5 seeking certification as a class under rule 23 of 

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

8 (4) The term ‘‘consumer dispute’’ means a dis9 pute between— 

10 (A) one or more individuals who seek or 

11 acquire real or personal property, services (in12 cluding services related to digital technology), 

13 securities or other investments, money, or credit 

14 for personal, family, or household purposes in15 cluding an individual or individuals who seek 

16 certification as a class under rule 23 of the 

17 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or a com18 parable rule or provision of State law; 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 (5) The term ‘‘employment dispute’’ means a 

4 dispute between one or more individuals (or their 

5 authorized representative) and a person arising out 

6 of or related to the work relationship or prospective 

7 work relationship between them, including a dispute 

8 regarding the terms of or payment for, advertising 

9 of, recruiting for, referring of, arranging for, or dis10 cipline or discharge in connection with, such work, 

11 regardless of whether the individual is or would be 

12 classified as an employee or an independent con13 tractor with respect to such work, and including a 

14 dispute arising under any law referred to or de15 scribed in section 62(e) of the Internal Revenue 

16 Code of 1986, including parts of such law not explic17 itly referenced in such section but that relate to pro18 tecting individuals on any such basis, and including 

19 a dispute in which an individual or individuals seek 

20 certification as a class under rule 23 of the Federal 

21 Rules of Civil Procedure or as a collective action 

22 under section 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards 

23 Act, or a comparable rule or provision of State law. 

24 (6) The term ‘‘predispute arbitration agree25 ment’’ means an agreement to arbitrate a dispute 


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

2 of the agreement. 

3 (7) The term ‘‘predispute joint-action waiver’’ 

4 means an agreement, whether or not part of a 

5 predispute arbitration agreement, that would pro6 hibit, or waive the right of, one of the parties to the 

7 agreement to participate in a joint, class, or collec8 tive action in a judicial, arbitral, administrative, or 

9 other forum, concerning a dispute that has not yet 

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

11 (d) APPLICATION.—This section shall apply with re12 spect to any dispute or claim that arises or accrues on 

13 or after the date on which the covered emergency period 

14 began. 

15 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec16 tion shall be construed to prohibit the use of arbitration 

17 on a voluntary basis after the dispute arises. 

Æ 


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