IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1423 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Forced Arbitration In3 justice Repeal Act’’ or the ‘‘FAIR Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

5 The purposes of this Act are to— 

6 (1) prohibit predispute arbitration agreements 

7 that force arbitration of future employment, con8 sumer, antitrust, or civil rights disputes; and 

9 (2) prohibit agreements and practices that 

10 interfere with the right of individuals, workers, and 

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

12 collective action related to an employment, con13 sumer, antitrust, or civil rights dispute. 

14 SEC. 3. ARBITRATION OF EMPLOYMENT, CONSUMER, ANTI15 TRUST, AND CIVIL RIGHTS DISPUTES. 

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

17 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘CHAPTER 4—ARBITRATION OF EMPLOY19 MENT, CONSUMER, ANTITRUST, AND 

20 CIVIL RIGHTS DISPUTES 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘401. Definitions. 

‘‘402. No validity or enforceability. 

21 ‘‘§ 401. Definitions 

22 ‘‘In this chapter— 

23 ‘‘(1) the term ‘antitrust dispute’ means a dis24 pute— 


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

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

3 of the first section of the Clayton Act) or State 

4 antitrust laws; and 

5 ‘‘(B) in which the plaintiffs seek certifi6 cation as a class under rule 23 of the Federal 

7 Rules of Civil Procedure or a comparable rule 

8 or provision of State law; 

9 ‘‘(2) the term ‘civil rights dispute’ means a dis10 pute— 

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

12 ‘‘(i) the Constitution of the United 

13 States or the constitution of a State; 

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

15 that prohibits discrimination on the basis 

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

17 orientation, disability, religion, national or18 igin, or any legally protected status in edu19 cation, employment, credit, housing, public 

20 accommodations and facilities, voting, vet21 erans or servicemembers, health care, or a 

22 program funded or conducted by the Fed23 eral Government or State government, in24 cluding any law referred to or described in 

25 section 62(e) of the Internal Revenue Code 


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1 of 1986, including parts of such law not 

2 explicitly referenced in such section but 

3 that relate to protecting individuals on any 

4 such basis; and 

5 ‘‘(B) in which at least one party alleging a 

6 violation described in subparagraph (A) is one 

7 or more individuals (or their authorized rep8 resentative), including one or more individuals 

9 seeking certification as a class under rule 23 of 

10 the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or a com11 parable rule or provision of State law; 

12 ‘‘(3) the term ‘consumer dispute’ means a dis13 pute between— 

14 ‘‘(A) one or more individuals who seek or 

15 acquire real or personal property, services (in16 cluding services related to digital technology), 

17 securities or other investments, money, or credit 

18 for personal, family, or household purposes in19 cluding an individual or individuals who seek 

20 certification as a class under rule 23 of the 

21 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or a com22 parable rule or provision of State law; and 

23 ‘‘(B)(i) the seller or provider of such prop24 erty, services, securities or other investments, 

25 money, or credit; or 


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

2 providing of, payment for, receipt or use of in3 formation about, or other relationship to any 

4 such property, services, securities or other in5 vestments, money, or credit; 

6 ‘‘(4) the term ‘employment dispute’ means a 

7 dispute between one or more individuals (or their 

8 authorized representative) and a person arising out 

9 of or related to the work relationship or prospective 

10 work relationship between them, including a dispute 

11 regarding the terms of or payment for, advertising 

12 of, recruiting for, referring of, arranging for, or dis13 cipline or discharge in connection with, such work, 

14 regardless of whether the individual is or would be 

15 classified as an employee or an independent con16 tractor with respect to such work, and including a 

17 dispute arising under any law referred to or de18 scribed in section 62(e) of the Internal Revenue 

19 Code of 1986, including parts of such law not explic20 itly referenced in such section but that relate to pro21 tecting individuals on any such basis, and including 

22 a dispute in which an individual or individuals seek 

23 certification as a class under rule 23 of the Federal 

24 Rules of Civil Procedure or as a collective action 


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

2 Act, or a comparable rule or provision of State law; 

3 ‘‘(5) the term ‘predispute arbitration agree4 ment’ means an agreement to arbitrate a dispute 

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

6 of the agreement; and 

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

8 means an agreement, whether or not part of a 

9 predispute arbitration agreement, that would pro10 hibit, or waive the right of, one of the parties to the 

11 agreement to participate in a joint, class, or collec12 tive action in a judicial, arbitral, administrative, or 

13 other forum, concerning a dispute that has not yet 

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

15 ‘‘§ 402. No validity or enforceability 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro17 vision of this title, no predispute arbitration agreement or 

18 predispute joint-action waiver shall be valid or enforceable 

19 with respect to an employment dispute, consumer dispute, 

20 antitrust dispute, or civil rights dispute. 

21 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY.— 

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

23 chapter applies with respect to a dispute shall be de24 termined under Federal law. The applicability of this 

25 chapter to an agreement to arbitrate and the validity 


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1 and enforceability of an agreement to which this 

2 chapter applies shall be determined by a court, rath3 er than an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the 

4 party resisting arbitration challenges the arbitration 

5 agreement specifically or in conjunction with other 

6 terms of the contract containing such agreement, 

7 and irrespective of whether the agreement purports 

8 to delegate such determinations to an arbitrator. 

9 ‘‘(2) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.— 

10 Nothing in this chapter shall apply to any arbitra11 tion provision in a contract between an employer and 

12 a labor organization or between labor organizations, 

13 except that no such arbitration provision shall have 

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

15 judicial enforcement of a right arising under a provi16 sion of the Constitution of the United States, a 

17 State constitution, or a Federal or State statute, or 

18 public policy arising therefrom.’’. 

19 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

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

21 Code is amended— 

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

23 and all that follows through ‘‘interstate com24 merce’’ and inserting in its place ‘‘of individ25 uals, regardless of whether such individuals are 


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1 designated as employees or independent con2 tractors for other purposes’’; 

3 (B) in section 2 by inserting ‘‘or as other4 wise provided in chapter 4’’ before the period at 

5 the end; 

6 (C) in section 208— 

7 (i) in the section heading by striking 

8 ‘‘CHAPTER 1; RESIDUAL APPLICA9 TION’’ and inserting ‘‘APPLICATION’’; 

10 and 

11 (ii) by adding at the end the fol12 lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 

13 that this chapter is not in conflict with 

14 chapter 4.’’; and 

15 (D) in section 307— 

16 (i) in the section heading by striking 

17 ‘‘CHAPTER 1; RESIDUAL APPLICA18 TION’’ and inserting ‘‘APPLICATION’’; 

19 and 

20 (ii) by adding at the end the fol21 lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 

22 that this chapter is not in conflict with 

23 chapter 4.’’. 

24 (2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.— 


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1 (A) CHAPTER 2.—The table of sections of 

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

3 amended by striking the item relating to section 

4 208 and inserting the following: 

‘‘208. Application.’’. 

5 (B) CHAPTER 3.—The table of sections of 

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

7 amended by striking the item relating to section 

8 307 and inserting the following: 

‘‘307. Application.’’. 

9 (3) TABLE OF CHAPTERS.—The table of chap10 ters of title 9, United States Code, is amended by 

11 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘4. Arbitration of Employment, Consumer, Antitrust, and Civil Rights 

Disputes ........................................................................ 401’’. 

12 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

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

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

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

16 or accrues on or after such date. 


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1 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

2 Nothing in this Act, or the amendments made by this 

3 Act, shall be construed to prohibit the use of arbitration 

4 on a voluntary basis after the dispute arises. 

Passed the House of Representatives September 20, 

2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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