I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5115 
To amend title 9 of the United States Code with respect to arbitration 
of disputes involving age discrimination. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 3, 2025 
Mr. LAWLER 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 of disputes involving age discrimination. 
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 ‘‘Protecting Older 
Americans Act of 2025’’. 
SEC. 2. PREDISPUTE ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES INVOLV-
ING AGE DISCRIMINATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States Code 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘CHAPTER 5—ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES 
INVOLVING AGE DISCRIMINATION 
‘‘Sec. 
‘‘501. Definitions. 
‘‘502. No validity or enforceability. 
‘‘§ 501. Definitions 
‘‘In this chapter: 
‘‘(1) 
AGE
DISCRIMINATION
DISPUTE.—The 
term ‘age discrimination dispute’ means a dispute 
relating to conduct that is alleged to constitute age 
discrimination against a person who is not less than 
40 years of age in any form, including disparate 
treatment, disparate impact, harassment, and retal-
iation, that is prohibited under applicable Federal, 
Tribal, or State law (including local law). 
‘‘(2) PREDISPUTE
ARBITRATION
AGREEMENT; 
PREDISPUTE
JOINT-ACTION
WAIVER.—The terms 
‘predispute arbitration agreement’ and ‘predispute 
joint-action waiver’ have the meanings given the 
terms in section 401. 
‘‘§ 502. No validity or enforceability 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro-
vision of this title, at the election of the person alleging 
conduct constituting an age discrimination dispute, or the 
named representative of a class or in a collective action 
alleging such conduct, no predispute arbitration agree-
ment or predispute joint-action waiver shall be valid or 
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enforceable with respect to a case which is filed under 
Federal, Tribal, or State law and relates to the age dis-
crimination dispute. 
‘‘(b) DETERMINATION OF APPLICABILITY.—An issue 
as to whether this chapter applies with respect to a dispute 
shall be determined under Federal law. The applicability 
of this chapter to an agreement to arbitrate and the valid-
ity and enforceability of an agreement to which this chap-
ter applies shall be determined by a court, rather than 
an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the party resisting 
arbitration challenges the arbitration agreement specifi-
cally or in conjunction with other terms of the contract 
containing such agreement, and irrespective of whether 
the agreement purports to delegate such determinations 
to an arbitrator.’’. 
(b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States 
Code is amended— 
(A) in section 2, by inserting ‘‘or 5’’ before 
the period at the end; 
(B) in section 208, in the second sentence, 
by inserting ‘‘or 5’’ before the period at the 
end; and 
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(C) in section 307, in the second sentence, 
by inserting ‘‘or 5’’ before the period at the 
end. 
(2) TABLE OF CHAPTERS.—The table of chap-
ters for title 9, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘5. Arbitration of disputes involving age discrimination 501.’’. 
SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY. 
This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 
shall apply with respect to any dispute or claim that arises 
or accrues on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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