I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8608 To amend title 9 of the United States Code to prohibit the enforcement of predispute arbitration agreements with respect to sexual assault claims. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 16, 2020 Mrs. LESKO (for herself and Ms. BASS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 9 of the United States Code to prohibit the enforcement of predispute arbitration agreements with respect to sexual assault claims. 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 ‘‘Carrie’s Law’’. 4 SEC. 2. ARBITRATION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT CLAIMS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States Code 6 is amended by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘CHAPTER 4—ARBITRATION OF SEXUAL 8 ASSAULT CLAIMS 9 ‘‘Sec. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:54 Nov 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H8608.IH H8608 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8608 IH ‘‘401. Definitions. ‘‘402. Limit on validity and enforceability. ‘‘§ 401. Definitions 1 ‘‘In this chapter— 2 ‘‘(1) the term ‘predispute arbitration agree- 3 ment’ means any agreement to arbitrate a claim 4 that had not yet arisen at the time of the making 5 of the agreement; and 6 ‘‘(2) the term ‘sexual assault’ means a non- 7 consensual sexual act or sexual contact, as those 8 terms are defined in section 2246 of title 18, or 9 similar applicable State or Tribal law, including 10 when the victim lacks capacity to consent. 11 ‘‘§ 402. Limit on validity and enforceability 12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro- 13 vision of this title, a predispute arbitration agreement 14 shall have no force or effect with respect to a sexual as- 15 sault claim. 16 ‘‘(b) RELATED CLAIMS.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 18 and notwithstanding any other provision of this title, 19 a predispute arbitration agreement shall have no 20 force or effect with respect to a claim asserted by a 21 sexual assault victim that is based upon that sexual 22 assault. 23 ‘‘(2) SEXUAL ASSAULT CLAIM DISMISSED.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Nov 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8608.IH H8608 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8608 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a court dismisses 1 with prejudice a sexual assault claim that, but 2 for subsection (a), would have been subject to 3 a predispute arbitration agreement— 4 ‘‘(i) the court shall dismiss any other 5 claim that, but for paragraph (1) of this 6 subsection, would have been subject to a 7 predispute arbitration agreement; and 8 ‘‘(ii) the relevant predispute arbitra- 9 tion agreement shall apply with respect to 10 any claim dismissed under clause (i). 11 ‘‘(B) TOLLING.—Any time period under a 12 predispute arbitration agreement that is appli- 13 cable to a claim dismissed under subparagraph 14 (A)(i) shall be tolled during the period during 15 which the claim was pending before a Federal 16 court. 17 ‘‘(c) APPLICABILITY.—An issue as to whether this 18 chapter applies to an arbitration agreement or a claim 19 shall be determined under Federal law. The applicability 20 of this chapter to an agreement to arbitrate or a claim 21 and the force or effect of an agreement to which this chap- 22 ter applies shall be determined by a court, rather than 23 an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the party resisting 24 arbitration challenges the arbitration agreement specifi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Nov 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8608.IH H8608 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8608 IH cally or in conjunction with other terms of the contract 1 containing such agreement.’’. 2 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States 4 Code is amended— 5 (A) in section 2, by inserting ‘‘or as other- 6 wise provided in chapter 4’’ before the period at 7 the end; 8 (B) in section 208— 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.’’; and 16 (C) in section 307— 17 (i) in the section heading, by striking 18 ‘‘Chapter 1; residual application’’ 19 and inserting ‘‘Application’’; and 20 (ii) by adding at the end the fol- 21 lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 22 that this chapter is not in conflict with 23 chapter 4.’’. 24 (2) TABLE OF SECTIONS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Nov 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8608.IH H8608 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8608 IH (A) CHAPTER 2.—The table of sections for 1 chapter 2 of title 9, United States Code, is 2 amended by striking the item relating to section 3 208 and inserting the following: 4 ‘‘208. Application.’’. (B) CHAPTER 3.—The table of sections for 5 chapter 3 of title 9, United States Code, is 6 amended by striking the item relating to section 7 307 and inserting the following: 8 ‘‘307. Application.’’. (3) TABLE OF CHAPTERS.—The table of chap- 9 ters for title 9, United States Code, is amended by 10 adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘4. Arbitration of sexual assault claims ................................... 401’’. SEC. 3. PROSPECTIVE EFFECT. 12 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 13 shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act and 14 shall apply with respect to any claim that arises on or 15 after such date. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:49 Nov 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8608.IH H8608 ctelli on DSK11ZRN23PROD with BILLS