I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8608 

To amend title 9 of the United States Code to prohibit the enforcement 

of predispute arbitration agreements with respect to sexual assault claims. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 16, 2020 

Mrs. LESKO (for herself and Ms. BASS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend title 9 of the United States Code to prohibit 

the enforcement of predispute arbitration agreements 

with respect to sexual assault claims. 

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 ‘‘Carrie’s Law’’. 

5 SEC. 2. ARBITRATION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT CLAIMS. 

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

7 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘CHAPTER 4—ARBITRATION OF SEXUAL 

9 ASSAULT CLAIMS 

‘‘Sec. 


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‘‘401. Definitions. 

‘‘402. Limit on validity and enforceability. 

1 ‘‘§ 401. Definitions 

2 ‘‘In this chapter— 

3 ‘‘(1) the term ‘predispute arbitration agree4 ment’ means any agreement to arbitrate a claim 

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

6 of the agreement; and 

7 ‘‘(2) the term ‘sexual assault’ means a non8 consensual sexual act or sexual contact, as those 

9 terms are defined in section 2246 of title 18, or 

10 similar applicable State or Tribal law, including 

11 when the victim lacks capacity to consent. 

12 ‘‘§ 402. Limit on validity and enforceability 

13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro14 vision of this title, a predispute arbitration agreement 

15 shall have no force or effect with respect to a sexual as16 sault claim. 

17 ‘‘(b) RELATED CLAIMS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

19 and notwithstanding any other provision of this title, 

20 a predispute arbitration agreement shall have no 

21 force or effect with respect to a claim asserted by a 

22 sexual assault victim that is based upon that sexual 

23 assault. 

24 ‘‘(2) SEXUAL ASSAULT CLAIM DISMISSED.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a court dismisses 

2 with prejudice a sexual assault claim that, but 

3 for subsection (a), would have been subject to 

4 a predispute arbitration agreement— 

5 ‘‘(i) the court shall dismiss any other 

6 claim that, but for paragraph (1) of this 

7 subsection, would have been subject to a 

8 predispute arbitration agreement; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) the relevant predispute arbitra10 tion agreement shall apply with respect to 

11 any claim dismissed under clause (i). 

12 ‘‘(B) TOLLING.—Any time period under a 

13 predispute arbitration agreement that is appli14 cable to a claim dismissed under subparagraph 

15 (A)(i) shall be tolled during the period during 

16 which the claim was pending before a Federal 

17 court. 

18 ‘‘(c) APPLICABILITY.—An issue as to whether this 

19 chapter applies to an arbitration agreement or a claim 

20 shall be determined under Federal law. The applicability 

21 of this chapter to an agreement to arbitrate or a claim 

22 and the force or effect of an agreement to which this chap23 ter applies shall be determined by a court, rather than 

24 an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the party resisting 

25 arbitration challenges the arbitration agreement specifiVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Nov 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8608.IH H8608

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1 cally or in conjunction with other terms of the contract 

2 containing such agreement.’’. 

3 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

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

5 Code is amended— 

6 (A) in section 2, by inserting ‘‘or as other7 wise provided in chapter 4’’ before the period at 

8 the end; 

9 (B) in section 208— 

10 (i) in the section heading, by striking 

11 ‘‘Chapter 1; residual application’’ 

12 and inserting ‘‘Application’’; and 

13 (ii) by adding at the end the fol14 lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 

15 that this chapter is not in conflict with 

16 chapter 4.’’; and 

17 (C) in section 307— 

18 (i) in the section heading, by striking 

19 ‘‘Chapter 1; residual application’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘Application’’; and 

21 (ii) by adding at the end the fol22 lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 

23 that this chapter is not in conflict with 

24 chapter 4.’’. 

25 (2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.— 


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

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 for 

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 for title 9, United States Code, is amended by 

11 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘4. Arbitration of sexual assault claims ................................... 401’’. 

12 SEC. 3. PROSPECTIVE EFFECT. 

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 claim that arises on or 

16 after such date. 

Æ 


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