I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4570 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 6, 2017 

Mrs. BUSTOS (for herself, Mr. JONES, Ms. JAYAPAL, and Ms. STEFANIK) introduced the following bill; which was 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 ‘‘Ending Forced Arbi5 tration of Sexual Harassment Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ARBITRATION OF EMPLOYMENT DISPUTES. 

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

8 is amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘CHAPTER 4—ARBITRATION OF 

2 EMPLOYMENT DISPUTES 

3 ‘‘SEC. 401. DEFINITIONS. 

4 ‘‘In this chapter— 

5 ‘‘(1) the term ‘sex discrimination dispute’ 

6 means a dispute between an employer and employee 

7 arising out of conduct that would form the basis of 

8 a claim based on sex under title VII of the Civil 

9 Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.) if the 

10 employment were employment as defined in section 

11 701(b) of that title regardless of whether a violation 

12 of title VII is alleged; and 

13 ‘‘(2) the term ‘predispute arbitration agree14 ment’ means any agreement to arbitrate a dispute 

15 that had not yet arisen at the time of the making 

16 of the agreement. 

17 ‘‘SEC. 402. VALIDITY AND ENFORCEABILITY. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro19 vision of this title, no predispute arbitration agreement 

20 shall be valid or enforceable if it requires arbitration of 

21 a sex discrimination dispute. 

22 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY.— 

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

24 chapter applies to an arbitration agreement shall be 

25 determined under Federal law. The applicability of 


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1 this chapter to an agreement to arbitrate and the 

2 validity and enforceability of an agreement to which 

3 this chapter applies shall be determined by a court, 

4 rather than an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the 

5 party resisting arbitration challenges the arbitration 

6 agreement specifically or in conjunction with other 

7 terms of the contract containing such agreement. 

8 ‘‘(2) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.— 

9 Nothing in this chapter shall apply to any arbitra10 tion provision in a contract between an employer and 

11 a labor organization or between labor organizations, 

12 except that no such arbitration provision shall have 

13 the effect of waiving the right of an employee to 

14 seek judicial enforcement of a right arising under a 

15 provision of the Constitution of the United States, a 

16 State constitution, or a Federal or State statute, or 

17 public policy arising therefrom.’’. 

18 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

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

20 Code is amended— 

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

22 and all that follows through ‘‘interstate com23 merce’’; 


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1 (B) in section 2, by inserting ‘‘or as other2 wise provided in chapter 4’’ before the period at 

3 the end; 

4 (C) in section 208— 

5 (i) in the section heading, by striking 

6 ‘‘CHAPTER 1; RESIDUAL APPLI7 CATION’’ and inserting ‘‘APPLICA8 TION’’; and 

9 (ii) by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 

11 that this chapter is not in conflict with 

12 chapter 4.’’; and 

13 (D) in section 307— 

14 (i) in the section heading, by striking 

15 ‘‘CHAPTER 1; RESIDUAL APPLI16 CATION’’ and inserting ‘‘APPLICA17 TION’’; and 

18 (ii) by adding at the end the fol19 lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 

20 that this chapter is not in conflict with 

21 chapter 4.’’. 

22 (2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.— 

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

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


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1 amended by striking the item relating to section 

2 208 and inserting the following: 

‘‘208. Application.’’. 

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

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

5 amended by striking the item relating to section 

6 307 and inserting the following: 

‘‘307. Application.’’. 

7 (3) TABLE OF CHAPTERS.—The table of chap8 ters for title 9, United States Code, is amended by 

9 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘4. Arbitration of employment disputes.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

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

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

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

14 on or after such date. 

Æ 


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