I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1873 
To amend title 9 of the United States Code with respect to arbitration. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 12, 2011 
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia (for himself, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. GRIJALVA, 
Ms. LEE of California, Mr. FILNER, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. 
NADLER, Ms. WATERS, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. 
BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 
GONZALEZ, Mr. LYNCH, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. BRALEY of 
Iowa, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. 
DOYLE, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. LOEBSACK, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. BOS-
WELL, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. CONYERS, 
Ms. JACKSON LEE of Texas, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. CHU, Ms. 
BALDWIN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. 
HONDA, Mr. STARK, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. KUCINICH, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. 
CARNAHAN, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. PIERLUISI, Ms. RICHARDSON, Mr. 
GUTIERREZ, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DAVIS of Illi-
nois, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms. CLARKE of New 
York, Ms. BASS of California, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. 
BLUMENAUER, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. WATT, Mr. FRANK of 
Massachusetts, Mr. SARBANES, and Mr. RYAN of Ohio) 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Arbitration Fairness 
Act of 2011’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) The Federal Arbitration Act (now enacted 
as chapter 1 of title 9 of the United States Code) 
was intended to apply to disputes between commer-
cial entities of generally similar sophistication and 
bargaining power. 
(2) A series of decisions by the Supreme Court 
of the United States have changed the meaning of 
the Act so that it now extends to consumer disputes 
and employment disputes. 
(3) Most consumers and employees have little 
or no meaningful choice whether to submit their 
claims to arbitration. Often, consumers and employ-
ees are not even aware that they have given up their 
rights. 
(4) Mandatory arbitration undermines the de-
velopment of public law because there is inadequate 
transparency and inadequate judicial review of arbi-
trators’ decisions. 
(5) Arbitration can be an acceptable alternative 
when consent to the arbitration is truly voluntary, 
and occurs after the dispute arises. 
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SEC. 3. ARBITRATION OF EMPLOYMENT, CONSUMER, AND 
CIVIL RIGHTS DISPUTES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States Code 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘CHAPTER 4—ARBITRATION OF EMPLOY-
MENT, CONSUMER, AND CIVIL RIGHTS 
DISPUTES 
‘‘Sec. 
‘‘401. Definitions. 
‘‘402. Validity and enforceability. 
‘‘§ 401. Definitions 
‘‘In this chapter— 
‘‘(1) the term ‘civil rights dispute’ means a dis-
pute— 
‘‘(A) arising under— 
‘‘(i) the Constitution of the United 
States or the constitution of a State; or 
‘‘(ii) a Federal or State statute that 
prohibits discrimination on the basis of 
race, sex, disability, religion, national ori-
gin, or any invidious basis in education, 
employment, credit, housing, public accom-
modations and facilities, voting, or pro-
gram funded or conducted by the Federal 
Government or State government, includ-
ing any statute enforced by the Civil 
Rights Division of the Department of Jus-
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tice and any statute enumerated in section 
62(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (relating to unlawful discrimination); 
and 
‘‘(B) in which at least 1 party alleging a 
violation of the Constitution of the United 
States, a State constitution, or a statute pro-
hibiting discrimination is an individual; 
‘‘(2) the term ‘consumer dispute’ means a dis-
pute between an individual who seeks or acquires 
real or personal property, services (including services 
relating to securities and other investments), money, 
or credit for personal, family, or household purposes 
and the seller or provider of such property, services, 
money, or credit; 
‘‘(3) the term ‘employment dispute’ means a 
dispute between an employer and employee arising 
out of the relationship of employer and employee as 
defined in section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards 
Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203); and 
‘‘(4) the term ‘predispute arbitration agree-
ment’ means any agreement to arbitrate a dispute 
that had not yet arisen at the time of the making 
of the agreement. 
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‘‘§ 402. Validity and enforceability 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro-
vision of this title, no predispute arbitration agreement 
shall be valid or enforceable if it requires arbitration of 
an employment dispute, consumer dispute, or civil rights 
dispute. 
‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An issue as to whether this 
chapter applies to an arbitration agreement shall be 
determined under Federal law. The applicability of 
this chapter to an agreement to arbitrate and the 
validity and enforceability of an agreement to which 
this chapter applies shall be determined by a court, 
rather than an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the 
party resisting arbitration challenges the arbitration 
agreement specifically or in conjunction with other 
terms of the contract containing such agreement. 
‘‘(2) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.— 
Nothing in this chapter shall apply to any arbitra-
tion provision in a contract between an employer and 
a labor organization or between labor organizations, 
except that no such arbitration provision shall have 
the effect of waiving the right of an employee to 
seek judicial enforcement of a right arising under a 
provision of the Constitution of the United States, a 
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State constitution, or a Federal or State statute, or 
public policy arising therefrom.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States 
Code is amended— 
(A) in section 1, by striking ‘‘of seamen,’’ 
and all that follows through ‘‘interstate com-
merce’’; 
(B) in section 2, by inserting ‘‘or as other-
wise provided in chapter 4’’ before the period at 
the end; 
(C) in section 208— 
(i) in the section heading, by striking 
‘‘Chapter 1; residual application’’ 
and inserting ‘‘Application’’; and 
(ii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 
that this chapter is not in conflict with 
chapter 4.’’; and 
(D) in section 307— 
(i) in the section heading, by striking 
‘‘Chapter 1; residual application’’ 
and inserting ‘‘Application’’; and 
(ii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 
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that this chapter is not in conflict with 
chapter 4.’’. 
(2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.— 
(A) CHAPTER 2.—The table of sections for 
chapter 2 of title 9, United States Code, is 
amended by striking the item relating to section 
208 and inserting the following: 
‘‘208. Application.’’. 
(B) CHAPTER 3.—The table of sections for 
chapter 3 of title 9, United States Code, is 
amended by striking the item relating to section 
307 and inserting the following: 
‘‘307. Application.’’. 
(3) TABLE OF CHAPTERS.—The table of chap-
ters for title 9, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘4. Arbitration of employment, consumer, and civil rights disputes ........
401’’. 
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 
shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act and 
shall apply with respect to any dispute or claim that arises 
on or after such date. 
Æ 
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