Justice for Ser­vice­mem­bers Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2459 To amend title 9, United States Code, to prohibit predispute arbitration agreements that force arbitration of certain disputes arising from claims of servicemembers and veterans. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES llllllllll Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself, Mr. REED, and Mr. GRAHAM) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 9, United States Code, to prohibit predispute arbitration agreements that force arbitration of certain disputes arising from claims of servicemembers and vet- erans. 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 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 6 The purposes of this Act are— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2459.IS S2459 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2459 IS (1) to prohibit predispute arbitration agree- 1 ments that force arbitration of disputes arising from 2 claims brought under chapter 43 of title 38, United 3 States Code, and the Servicemembers Civil Relief 4 Act (50 U.S.C. 3901 et seq.); and 5 (2) to prohibit agreements and practices that 6 interfere with the right of persons to participate in 7 a joint, class, or collective action related to disputes 8 arising from claims brought under the provisions of 9 the laws described in paragraph (1). 10 SEC. 3. ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES INVOLVING THE 11 RIGHTS OF SERVICEMEMBERS AND VET- 12 ERANS. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 9, United States Code, is 14 amended by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘CHAPTER 4—ARBITRATION OF SERVICE- 16 MEMBER AND VETERAN DISPUTES 17 ‘‘Sec. ‘‘401. Definitions. ‘‘402. No validity or enforceability. ‘‘§ 401. Definitions 18 ‘‘In this chapter— 19 ‘‘(1) the term ‘predispute arbitration agree- 20 ment’ means an agreement to arbitrate a dispute 21 that has not yet arisen at the time of the making 22 of the agreement; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2459.IS S2459 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2459 IS ‘‘(2) the term ‘predispute joint-action waiver’ 1 means an agreement, whether or not part of a 2 predispute arbitration agreement, that would pro- 3 hibit, or waive the right of, one of the parties to the 4 agreement to participate in a joint, class, or collec- 5 tive action in a judicial, arbitral, administrative, or 6 other forum, concerning a dispute that has not yet 7 arisen at the time of the making of the agreement. 8 ‘‘§ 402. No validity or enforceability 9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro- 10 vision of this title, no predispute arbitration agreement or 11 predispute joint-action waiver shall be valid or enforceable 12 with respect to a dispute relating to disputes arising under 13 chapter 43 of title 38 or the Servicemembers Civil Relief 14 Act (50 U.S.C. 3901 et seq.). 15 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY.— 16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An issue as to whether this 17 chapter applies with respect to a dispute shall be de- 18 termined under Federal law. The applicability of this 19 chapter to an agreement to arbitrate and the validity 20 and enforceability of an agreement to which this 21 chapter applies shall be determined by a court, rath- 22 er than an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the 23 party resisting arbitration challenges the arbitration 24 agreement specifically or in conjunction with other 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2459.IS S2459 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2459 IS terms of the contract containing such agreement, 1 and irrespective of whether the agreement purports 2 to delegate such determinations to an arbitrator. 3 ‘‘(2) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.— 4 Nothing in this chapter shall apply to any arbitra- 5 tion provision in a contract between an employer and 6 a labor organization or between labor organizations, 7 except that no such arbitration provision shall have 8 the effect of waiving the right of a worker to seek 9 judicial enforcement of a right arising under a provi- 10 sion of the Constitution of the United States, a 11 State constitution, or a Federal or State statute, or 12 public policy arising therefrom.’’. 13 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States 15 Code is amended— 16 (A) in section 1 by striking ‘‘of seamen,’’ 17 and all that follows through ‘‘interstate com- 18 merce’’ and inserting ‘‘persons and causes of 19 action under chapter 43 of title 38 or the 20 Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 21 3901 et seq.)’’; 22 (B) in section 2 by inserting ‘‘or as other- 23 wise provided in chapter 4’’ before the period at 24 the end; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2459.IS S2459 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2459 IS (C) in section 208— 1 (i) in the section heading, by striking 2 ‘‘Chapter 1; residual application’’ 3 and inserting ‘‘Application’’; and 4 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 5 lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 6 that this chapter is not in conflict with 7 chapter 4.’’; and 8 (D) in section 307— 9 (i) in the section heading, by striking 10 ‘‘Chapter 1; residual application’’ 11 and inserting ‘‘Application’’; and 12 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 13 lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 14 that this chapter is not in conflict with 15 chapter 4.’’. 16 (2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.— 17 (A) CHAPTER 2.—The table of sections for 18 chapter 2 of title 9, United States Code, is 19 amended by striking the item relating to section 20 208 and inserting the following: 21 ‘‘208. Application.’’. (B) CHAPTER 3.—The table of sections for 22 chapter 3 of title 9, United States Code, is 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2459.IS S2459 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2459 IS amended by striking the item relating to section 1 307 and inserting the following: 2 ‘‘307. Application.’’. (3) TABLE OF CHAPTERS.—The table of chap- 3 ters of title 9, United States Code, is amended by 4 adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘4. Arbitration of servicemember and veteran disputes ... 401’’. SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON WAIVER OF RIGHTS AND PROTEC- 6 TIONS UNDER SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RE- 7 LIEF ACT. 8 (a) AMENDMENTS.—Section 107(a) of the 9 Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 3918(a)) is 10 amended— 11 (1) in the second sentence, by inserting ‘‘and if 12 it is made after a specific dispute has arisen and the 13 dispute is identified in the waiver’’ before the period 14 at the end; and 15 (2) in the third sentence by inserting ‘‘and if it 16 is made after a specific dispute has arisen and the 17 dispute is identified in the waiver’’ before the period 18 at the end. 19 (b) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.—The amend- 20 ments made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to 21 waivers made on or after the date of the enactment of 22 this Act. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2459.IS S2459 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2459 IS SEC. 5. APPLICABILITY. 1 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 2 shall apply with respect to any dispute or claim that arises 3 or accrues on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:58 Sep 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2459.IS S2459 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS