I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 595 
To provide a cause of action for violations of laws related to COVID– 
19, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 28, 2021 
Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. NOR-
TON, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. 
POCAN, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. LEE of California, 
Mr. CICILLINE, and Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia) 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘COVID–19 Justice 
and Accountability Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CAUSE OF ACTION FOR VIOLATIONS OF COVID–19 
LAWS. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an indi-
vidual may bring a cause of action in the appropriate dis-
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trict court of the United States against any person who 
violates or fails to comply with a requirement under the 
CARES Act (Public Law 116–136), the Families First 
Coronavirus Response Act (Public Law 116–127), or the 
Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appro-
priations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260), or an amend-
ment made by each such Act, for harm that the individual 
suffered as a result of such violation or failure. 
SEC. 3. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF ARBITRATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of this law, during the covered emergency period no 
predispute arbitration agreement or predispute joint-ac-
tion waiver shall be valid or enforceable with respect to 
an employment dispute, consumer dispute, antitrust dis-
pute, or civil rights dispute. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—An issue as to whether this 
section applies with respect to a dispute shall be de-
termined under Federal law. The applicability of this 
section to an agreement to arbitrate and the validity 
and enforceability of an agreement to which this sec-
tion applies shall be determined by a court, rather 
than an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the party 
resisting arbitration challenges the arbitration agree-
ment specifically or in conjunction with other terms 
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of the contract containing such agreement, and irre-
spective of whether the agreement purports to dele-
gate such determinations to an arbitrator. 
(2) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.— 
Nothing in this section shall apply to any arbitration 
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 a worker to seek 
judicial enforcement of a right arising under a provi-
sion of the Constitution of the United States, a 
State constitution, or a Federal or State statute, or 
public policy arising therefrom. 
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘covered emergency period’’ 
means the period beginning on the date on which the 
President declared a national emergency under the 
National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 
with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 
(COVID–19) and ending on the date that is 180 
days after such emergency is terminated. 
(2) The term ‘‘antitrust dispute’’ means a dis-
pute— 
(A) arising from an alleged violation of the 
antitrust laws (as defined in subsection (a) of 
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the first section of the Clayton Act) or State 
antitrust laws; and 
(B) in which the plaintiffs seek certifi-
cation as a class under rule 23 of the Federal 
Rules of Civil Procedure or a comparable rule 
or provision of State law. 
(3) The term ‘‘civil rights dispute’’ means a dis-
pute— 
(A) arising from an alleged violation of— 
(i) the Constitution of the United 
States or the constitution of a State; and 
(ii) any Federal, State, or local law 
that prohibits discrimination on the basis 
of race, sex, age, gender identity, sexual 
orientation, disability, religion, national or-
igin, or any legally protected status in edu-
cation, employment, credit, housing, public 
accommodations and facilities, voting, vet-
erans or servicemembers, health care, or a 
program funded or conducted by the Fed-
eral Government or State government, in-
cluding any law referred to or described in 
section 62(e) of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986, including parts of such law not 
explicitly referenced in such section but 
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