COVID Justice and Accountability Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7020 To provide a cause of action for violations of laws related to COVID– 19, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 26, 2020 Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, and Mr. CARTWRIGHT) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To provide a cause of action for violations of laws related to COVID–19, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘COVID Justice and 4 Accountability Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. CAUSE OF ACTION FOR VIOLATIONS OF COVID–19 6 LAWS. 7 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an indi- 8 vidual may bring a cause of action in the appropriate dis- 9 trict court of the United States against any person who 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:45 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7020.IH H7020 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7020 IH violates or fails to comply with a requirement under the 1 CARES Act (Public Law 116–136) or the Families First 2 Coronavirus Response Act (Public Law 116–127), or an 3 amendment made by each such Act, for harm that the in- 4 dividual suffered as a result of such violation or failure. 5 SEC. 3. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF ARBITRATION. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 7 sion of this law, during the covered emergency period no 8 predispute arbitration agreement or predispute joint-ac- 9 tion waiver shall be valid or enforceable with respect to 10 an employment dispute, consumer dispute, antitrust dis- 11 pute, or civil rights dispute. 12 (b) APPLICABILITY.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—An issue as to whether this 14 section applies with respect to a dispute shall be de- 15 termined under Federal law. The applicability of this 16 section to an agreement to arbitrate and the validity 17 and enforceability of an agreement to which this sec- 18 tion applies shall be determined by a court, rather 19 than an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the party 20 resisting arbitration challenges the arbitration agree- 21 ment specifically or in conjunction with other terms 22 of the contract containing such agreement, and irre- 23 spective of whether the agreement purports to dele- 24 gate such determinations to an arbitrator. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:45 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7020.IH H7020 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7020 IH (2) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.— 1 Nothing in this section shall apply to any arbitration 2 provision in a contract between an employer and a 3 labor organization or between labor organizations, 4 except that no such arbitration provision shall have 5 the effect of waiving the right of a worker to seek 6 judicial enforcement of a right arising under a provi- 7 sion of the Constitution of the United States, a 8 State constitution, or a Federal or State statute, or 9 public policy arising therefrom. 10 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 11 (1) The term ‘‘covered emergency period’’ 12 means the period beginning on the date on which the 13 President declared a national emergency under the 14 National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) 15 with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 16 (COVID–19) and ending on the date that is 180 17 days after such emergency is terminated. 18 (2) The term ‘‘antitrust dispute’’ means a dis- 19 pute— 20 (A) arising from an alleged violation of the 21 antitrust laws (as defined in subsection (a) of 22 the first section of the Clayton Act) or State 23 antitrust laws; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:45 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7020.IH H7020 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7020 IH (B) in which the plaintiffs seek certifi- 1 cation as a class under rule 23 of the Federal 2 Rules of Civil Procedure or a comparable rule 3 or provision of State law. 4 (3) The term ‘‘civil rights dispute’’ means a dis- 5 pute— 6 (A) arising from an alleged violation of— 7 (i) the Constitution of the United 8 States or the constitution of a State; and 9 (ii) any Federal, State, or local law 10 that prohibits discrimination on the basis 11 of race, sex, age, gender identity, sexual 12 orientation, disability, religion, national or- 13 igin, or any legally protected status in edu- 14 cation, employment, credit, housing, public 15 accommodations and facilities, voting, vet- 16 erans or servicemembers, health care, or a 17 program funded or conducted by the Fed- 18 eral Government or State government, in- 19 cluding any law referred to or described in 20 section 62(e) of the Internal Revenue Code 21 of 1986, including parts of such law not 22 explicitly referenced in such section but 23 that relate to protecting individuals on any 24 such basis; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:45 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7020.IH H7020 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7020 IH (B) in which at least one party alleging a 1 violation described in subparagraph (A) is one 2 or more individuals (or their authorized rep- 3 resentative), including one or more individuals 4 seeking certification as a class under rule 23 of 5 the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or a com- 6 parable rule or provision of State law. 7 (4) The term ‘‘consumer dispute’’ means a dis- 8 pute between— 9 (A) one or more individuals who seek or 10 acquire real or personal property, services (in- 11 cluding services related to digital technology), 12 securities or other investments, money, or credit 13 for personal, family, or household purposes in- 14 cluding an individual or individuals who seek 15 certification as a class under rule 23 of the 16 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or a com- 17 parable rule or provision of State law; and 18 (B)(i) the seller or provider of such prop- 19 erty, services, securities or other investments, 20 money, or credit; or 21 (ii) a third party involved in the selling, 22 providing of, payment for, receipt or use of in- 23 formation about, or other relationship to any 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:45 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7020.IH H7020 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7020 IH such property, services, securities or other in- 1 vestments, money, or credit. 2 (5) The term ‘‘employment dispute’’ means a 3 dispute between one or more individuals (or their 4 authorized representative) and a person arising out 5 of or related to the work relationship or prospective 6 work relationship between them, including a dispute 7 regarding the terms of or payment for, advertising 8 of, recruiting for, referring of, arranging for, or dis- 9 cipline or discharge in connection with, such work, 10 regardless of whether the individual is or would be 11 classified as an employee or an independent con- 12 tractor with respect to such work, and including a 13 dispute arising under any law referred to or de- 14 scribed in section 62(e) of the Internal Revenue 15 Code of 1986, including parts of such law not explic- 16 itly referenced in such section but that relate to pro- 17 tecting individuals on any such basis, and including 18 a dispute in which an individual or individuals seek 19 certification as a class under rule 23 of the Federal 20 Rules of Civil Procedure or as a collective action 21 under section 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards 22 Act, or a comparable rule or provision of State law. 23 (6) The term ‘‘predispute arbitration agree- 24 ment’’ means an agreement to arbitrate a dispute 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:45 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7020.IH H7020 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7020 IH that has not yet arisen at the time of the making 1 of the agreement. 2 (7) The term ‘‘predispute joint-action waiver’’ 3 means an agreement, whether or not part of a 4 predispute arbitration agreement, that would pro- 5 hibit, or waive the right of, one of the parties to the 6 agreement to participate in a joint, class, or collec- 7 tive action in a judicial, arbitral, administrative, or 8 other forum, concerning a dispute that has not yet 9 arisen at the time of the making of the agreement. 10 (d) APPLICATION.—This section shall apply with re- 11 spect to any dispute or claim that arises or accrues on 12 or after the date on which the covered emergency period 13 began. 14 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec- 15 tion shall be construed to prohibit the use of arbitration 16 on a voluntary basis after the dispute arises. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:45 Jun 18, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7020.IH H7020 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS