Justice for Ser­vice­mem­bers Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2750 To amend title 9 of the United States Code to prohibit predispute arbitration agreements that force arbitration of certain disputes arising from claims of servicemembers and veterans. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 15, 2019 Mr. CICILLINE (for himself, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, and Mr. TAKANO) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju- diciary, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a pe- riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con- sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To amend title 9 of the United States Code to prohibit predispute arbitration agreements that force arbitration of certain disputes arising from claims of servicemembers and veterans. 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 ‘‘Justice for Service- 4 members Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2750.IH H2750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2750 IH SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 1 The purposes of this Act are— 2 (1) to prohibit predispute arbitration agree- 3 ments that force arbitration of disputes arising from 4 claims brought under chapter 43 of title 38 of the 5 United States Code (relating to employment and re- 6 employment rights of members of the uniformed 7 services) and the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act 8 (50 U.S.C. 3901–4043); and 9 (2) to prohibit agreements and practices that 10 interfere with the right of persons to participate in 11 a joint, class, or collective action related to disputes 12 arising from claims brought under the provisions of 13 such laws. 14 SEC. 3. ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES INVOLVING THE 15 RIGHTS OF SERVICEMEMBERS AND VET- 16 ERANS. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States Code 18 is amended by adding at the end the following: 19 ‘‘CHAPTER 4—ARBITRATION OF SERVICE- 20 MEMBER AND VETERAN DISPUTES 21 ‘‘Sec. ‘‘401. Definitions. ‘‘402. No validity or enforceability. ‘‘§ 401. Definitions 22 ‘‘In this chapter— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2750.IH H2750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2750 IH ‘‘(1) the term ‘predispute arbitration agree- 1 ment’ means an agreement to arbitrate a dispute 2 that has not yet arisen at the time of the making 3 of the agreement; and 4 ‘‘(2) the term ‘predispute joint-action waiver’ 5 means an agreement, whether or not part of a 6 predispute arbitration agreement, that would pro- 7 hibit, or waive the right of, one of the parties to the 8 agreement to participate in a joint, class, or collec- 9 tive action in a judicial, arbitral, administrative, or 10 other forum, concerning a dispute that has not yet 11 arisen at the time of the making of the agreement. 12 ‘‘§ 402. No validity or enforceability 13 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro- 14 vision of this title, no predispute arbitration agreement or 15 predispute joint-action waiver shall be valid or enforceable 16 with respect to a dispute relating to disputes arising under 17 chapter 43 of title 38 or the Servicemembers Civil Relief 18 Act. 19 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY.— 20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An issue as to whether this 21 chapter applies with respect to a dispute shall be de- 22 termined under Federal law. The applicability of this 23 chapter to an agreement to arbitrate and the validity 24 and enforceability of an agreement to which this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2750.IH H2750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2750 IH chapter applies shall be determined by a court, rath- 1 er than an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the 2 party resisting arbitration challenges the arbitration 3 agreement specifically or in conjunction with other 4 terms of the contract containing such agreement, 5 and irrespective of whether the agreement purports 6 to delegate such determinations to an arbitrator. 7 ‘‘(2) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.— 8 Nothing in this chapter shall apply to any arbitra- 9 tion provision in a contract between an employer and 10 a labor organization or between labor organizations, 11 except that no such arbitration provision shall have 12 the effect of waiving the right of a worker to seek 13 judicial enforcement of a right arising under a provi- 14 sion of the Constitution of the United States, a 15 State constitution, or a Federal or State statute, or 16 public policy arising therefrom.’’. 17 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States 19 Code is amended— 20 (A) in section 1 by striking ‘‘of seamen,’’ 21 and all that follows through ‘‘interstate com- 22 merce’’ and inserting ‘‘persons and causes of 23 action under chapter 43 of title 38 or the 24 Servicemembers Civil Relief Act’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2750.IH H2750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2750 IH (B) in section 2 by inserting ‘‘or as other- 1 wise provided in chapter 4’’ before the period at 2 the end; 3 (C) 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 (D) 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 of 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 04:41 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H2750.IH H2750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2750 IH (B) CHAPTER 3.—The table of sections of 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 of title 9, United States Code, is amended by 6 adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘4. Arbitration of servicemember and veteran disputes’’. SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON WAIVER OF RIGHTS AND PROTEC- 8 TIONS UNDER SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RE- 9 LIEF ACT. 10 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 107(a) of the Service- 11 members Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 3918(a)) is amend- 12 ed— 13 (1) in the second sentence by inserting ‘‘and if 14 it is made after a specific dispute has arisen and the 15 dispute is identified in the waiver’’ before the period 16 at the end; and 17 (2) in the third sentence by inserting ‘‘and if it 18 is made after a specific dispute has arisen and the 19 dispute is identified in the waiver’’ before the period 20 at the end. 21 (b) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.—The amend- 22 ments made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2750.IH H2750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 2750 IH waivers made on or after the date of the enactment of 1 this Act. 2 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 3 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 4 shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act and 5 shall apply with respect to any dispute or claim that arises 6 or accrues on or after such date. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:41 May 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2750.IH H2750 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS