‘‘(B) reporting or making a communica-
tion, including to any relevant public official, 
elected official, or other State or Federal au-
thority, about— 
‘‘(i) tortious conduct; 
‘‘(ii) otherwise unlawful conduct; or 
‘‘(iii) issues of public policy or public 
concern; 
‘‘(4) 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 
‘‘(5) 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. 
‘‘§ 402. Validity and enforceability 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON PREDISPUTE ARBITRA-
TION
AGREEMENTS
WITH
CONFIDENTIALITY 
CLAUSES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 
this title, no predispute arbitration agreement shall 
be valid or enforceable if the agreement contains a 
covered confidentiality clause. 
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‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 
apply to a predispute arbitration agreement if a 
party to the agreement can demonstrate a confiden-
tiality interest that significantly outweighs the pri-
vate and public interest in disclosure. 
‘‘(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 AMENDMENT.— 
The table of chapters for title 9, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘4. Predispute arbitration agreements containing con-
fidentiality clauses ................................................
401’’. 
SEC. 3. UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACT OR PRACTICE. 
(a) DEFINITION.—In this section— 
(1) the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 
Trade Commission; and 
(2) the terms ‘‘covered confidentiality clause’’ 
and ‘‘predispute arbitration agreement’’ have the 
meanings given those terms in section 401 of title 9, 
United States Code, as added by section 2. 
(b) PROHIBITION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for a 
person to knowingly offer to another person for rati-
fication a predispute arbitration agreement that con-
tains a covered confidentiality clause. 
(2) EXCEPTIONS.— 
(A) CONFIDENTIALITY
INTEREST.—Para-
graph (1) shall not apply to a person that offers 
a predispute arbitration agreement with a cov-
ered confidentiality clause if the person can 
demonstrate a confidentiality interest that sig-
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nificantly outweighs the private and public in-
terest in disclosure. 
(B) 
COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING
AGREE-
MENTS.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply with re-
spect to any arbitration provision in a contract 
between an employer and a labor organization 
or between labor organizations, if the arbitra-
tion provision does not waive the right of an 
employee to seek judicial enforcement of a right 
arising under a provision of the Constitution of 
the United States, a State constitution, or a 
Federal or State statute, or public policy aris-
ing therefrom. 
(c) ENFORCEMENT BY FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS-
SION.— 
(1) TREATMENT AS UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACT 
OR PRACTICE.—A violation of subsection (b) by a 
person with respect to which the Commission is em-
powered under section 5(a)(2) of the Federal Trade 
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45(a)(2)) shall be treat-
ed as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or de-
ceptive act or practice prescribed under section 
18(a)(1)(B) of that Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 
(2) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 
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(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 
enforce this section in the same manner, by the 
same means, and with the same jurisdiction, 
powers, and duties as though all applicable 
terms and provisions of the Federal Trade 
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were in-
corporated into and made a part of this section. 
(B) PRIVILEGES
AND
IMMUNITIES.—Any 
person who violates subsection (b) shall be sub-
ject to the penalties and entitled to the privi-
leges and immunities provided in the Federal 
Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 
(3) RULEMAKING.—The Commission shall pro-
mulgate standards and rules to carry out this sec-
tion in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United 
States Code. 
(d) CIVIL ACTION.— 
(1) PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Any person 
aggrieved by a violation of subsection (b) may bring 
a civil action in an appropriate district court of the 
United States. 
(2) REMEDIES.—In an action under paragraph 
(1), the court may award— 
(A) actual damages, but not less than liq-
uidated damages in an amount equal to $1,000; 
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(B) punitive damages; 
(C) reasonable attorney’s fees and other 
litigation costs reasonably incurred; and 
(D) any other preliminary and equitable 
relief that the court determines appropriate, in-
cluding injunctive relief. 
SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—This Act, and the amendments 
made by this Act, shall take effect on the date of enact-
ment of this Act. 
(b) APPLICABILITY.— 
(1) VALIDITY AND ENFORCEABILITY.—Chapter 
4 of title 9, United States Code, as added by section 
2, shall apply with respect to any dispute or claim 
that arises on or after the date of enactment of this 
Act. 
(2) UNFAIR
OR
DECEPTIVE
ACT
OR
PRAC-
TICE.—Section 3 shall apply with respect to any 
predispute arbitration agreement offered for ratifica-
tion on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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