I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4734 
To amend title 9 of the United States Code with respect to arbitration. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 26, 2017 
Mrs. BUSTOS (for herself, Mr. JONES, Ms. STEFANIK, and Ms. JAYAPAL) in-
troduced 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, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ending Forced Arbi-
tration of Sexual Harassment Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. ARBITRATION OF EMPLOYMENT DISPUTES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States Code 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘CHAPTER 4—ARBITRATION OF SEX 
DISCRIMINATION DISPUTES 
‘‘Sec. 
‘‘401. Definitions. 
‘‘402. Validity and enforceability. 
‘‘§ 401. Definitions 
‘‘In this chapter— 
‘‘(1) 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; and 
‘‘(2) the term ‘sex discrimination dispute’ 
means a dispute between an employer and employee 
arising out of conduct that would form the basis of 
a claim based on sex under title VII of the Civil 
Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.) if the 
employment were employment by an employer (as 
defined in section 701(b) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 
2000e(b))), regardless of whether a violation of such 
title VII is alleged. 
‘‘§ 402. Validity and enforceability 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 
(b)(2), and notwithstanding any other provision of this 
title, no predispute arbitration agreement shall be valid 
or enforceable if it requires arbitration of a sex discrimina-
tion dispute. 
‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY.— 
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‘‘(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 
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— 
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(A) in section 2, by inserting ‘‘or as other-
wise provided in chapter 4’’ before the period at 
the end; 
(B) 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 
(C) 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 
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.’’. 
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(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 sex discrimination disputes ......................
401’’. 
SEC. 3. 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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