Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Harassment Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1443 To amend title 9 of the United States Code with respect to arbitration. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 28, 2019 Mrs. BUSTOS (for herself, Ms. STEFANIK, Ms. JAYAPAL, and Mr. GRIFFITH) 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- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ending Forced Arbi- 4 tration of Sexual Harassment Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. ARBITRATION OF EMPLOYMENT DISPUTES. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States Code 7 is amended by adding at the end the following: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1443.IH H1443 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1443 IH ‘‘CHAPTER 4—ARBITRATION OF SEX 1 DISCRIMINATION DISPUTES 2 ‘‘Sec. ‘‘401. Definitions. ‘‘402. Validity and enforceability. ‘‘§ 401. Definitions 3 ‘‘In this chapter— 4 ‘‘(1) the term ‘predispute arbitration agree- 5 ment’ means any agreement to arbitrate a dispute 6 that had not yet arisen at the time of the making 7 of the agreement; and 8 ‘‘(2) the term ‘sex discrimination dispute’ 9 means a dispute between an employer and employee 10 arising out of conduct that would form the basis of 11 a claim based on sex under title VII of the Civil 12 Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.) if the 13 employment were employment by an employer (as 14 defined in section 701(b) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 15 2000e(b))), regardless of whether a violation of such 16 title VII is alleged. 17 ‘‘§ 402. Validity and enforceability 18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 19 (b)(2), and notwithstanding any other provision of this 20 title, no predispute arbitration agreement shall be valid 21 or enforceable if it requires arbitration of a sex discrimina- 22 tion dispute. 23 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1443.IH H1443 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1443 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An issue as to whether this 1 chapter applies to an arbitration agreement shall be 2 determined under Federal law. The applicability of 3 this chapter to an agreement to arbitrate and the 4 validity and enforceability of an agreement to which 5 this chapter applies shall be determined by a court, 6 rather than an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the 7 party resisting arbitration challenges the arbitration 8 agreement specifically or in conjunction with other 9 terms of the contract containing such agreement. 10 ‘‘(2) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.— 11 Nothing in this chapter shall apply to any arbitra- 12 tion provision in a contract between an employer and 13 a labor organization or between labor organizations, 14 except that no such arbitration provision shall have 15 the effect of waiving the right of an employee to 16 seek judicial enforcement of a right arising under a 17 provision of the Constitution of the United States, a 18 State constitution, or a Federal or State statute, or 19 public policy arising therefrom.’’. 20 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States 22 Code is amended— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1443.IH H1443 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1443 IH (A) in section 2, by inserting ‘‘or as other- 1 wise provided in chapter 4’’ before the period at 2 the end; 3 (B) in section 208— 4 (i) in the section heading, by striking 5 ‘‘Chapter 1; residual application’’ 6 and inserting ‘‘Application’’; and 7 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 8 lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 9 that this chapter is not in conflict with 10 chapter 4.’’; and 11 (C) in section 307— 12 (i) in the section heading, by striking 13 ‘‘Chapter 1; residual application’’ 14 and inserting ‘‘Application’’; and 15 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 16 lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 17 that this chapter is not in conflict with 18 chapter 4.’’. 19 (2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.— 20 (A) CHAPTER 2.—The table of sections for 21 chapter 2 of title 9, United States Code, is 22 amended by striking the item relating to section 23 208 and inserting the following: 24 ‘‘208. Application.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H1443.IH H1443 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1443 IH (B) CHAPTER 3.—The table of sections for 1 chapter 3 of title 9, United States Code, is 2 amended by striking the item relating to section 3 307 and inserting the following: 4 ‘‘307. Application.’’. (3) TABLE OF CHAPTERS.—The table of chap- 5 ters for title 9, United States Code, is amended by 6 adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘4. Arbitration of sex discrimination disputes ...................... 401’’. SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. 8 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 9 shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act and 10 shall apply with respect to any dispute or claim that arises 11 on or after such date. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Mar 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1443.IH H1443 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS