Protecting Older Americans Act of 2023

II Calendar No. 396 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 1979 To amend title 9 of the United States Code with respect to arbitration of disputes involving age discrimination. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 14, 2023 Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. OSSOFF, Mr. COONS, Ms. BUTLER, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. HIRONO, and Mr. HAWLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on the Judiciary MAY 16, 2024 Reported by Mr. DURBIN, without amendment A BILL To amend title 9 of the United States Code with respect to arbitration of disputes involving age discrimination. 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 ‘‘Protecting Older 4 Americans Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 May 16, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1979.RS S1979 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1979 RS SEC. 2. PREDISPUTE ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES INVOLV- 1 ING AGE DISCRIMINATION. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States Code 3 is amended by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘CHAPTER 5—ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES 5 INVOLVING AGE DISCRIMINATION 6 ‘‘Sec. ‘‘501. Definitions. ‘‘502. No validity or enforceability. ‘‘§ 501. Definitions 7 ‘‘In this chapter: 8 ‘‘(1) AGE DISCRIMINATION DISPUTE.—The 9 term ‘age discrimination dispute’ means a dispute 10 relating to conduct that is alleged to constitute age 11 discrimination against a person who is not less than 12 40 years of age in any form, including disparate 13 treatment, disparate impact, harassment, and retal- 14 iation, that is prohibited under applicable Federal, 15 Tribal, or State law (including local law). 16 ‘‘(2) PREDISPUTE ARBITRATION AGREEMENT; 17 PREDISPUTE JOINT-ACTION WAIVER.—The terms 18 ‘predispute arbitration agreement’ and ‘predispute 19 joint-action waiver’ have the meanings given the 20 terms in section 401. 21 ‘‘§ 502. No validity or enforceability 22 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro- 23 vision of this title, at the election of the person alleging 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 May 16, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1979.RS S1979 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1979 RS conduct constituting an age discrimination dispute, or the 1 named representative of a class or in a collective action 2 alleging such conduct, no predispute arbitration agree- 3 ment or predispute joint-action waiver shall be valid or 4 enforceable with respect to a case which is filed under 5 Federal, Tribal, or State law and relates to the age dis- 6 crimination dispute. 7 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATION OF APPLICABILITY.—An issue 8 as to whether this chapter applies with respect to a dispute 9 shall be determined under Federal law. The applicability 10 of this chapter to an agreement to arbitrate and the valid- 11 ity and enforceability of an agreement to which this chap- 12 ter applies shall be determined by a court, rather than 13 an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the party resisting 14 arbitration challenges the arbitration agreement specifi- 15 cally or in conjunction with other terms of the contract 16 containing such agreement, and irrespective of whether 17 the agreement purports to delegate such determinations 18 to an arbitrator.’’. 19 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States 21 Code is amended— 22 (A) in section 2, by inserting ‘‘or 5’’ before 23 the period at the end; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 May 16, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1979.RS S1979 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1979 RS (B) in section 208, in the second sentence, 1 by inserting ‘‘or 5’’ before the period at the 2 end; and 3 (C) in section 307, in the second sentence, 4 by inserting ‘‘or 5’’ before the period at the 5 end. 6 (2) TABLE OF CHAPTERS.—The table of chap- 7 ters for title 9, United States Code, is amended by 8 adding at the end the following: 9 ‘‘5. Arbitration of disputes involving age discrimination 501.’’. SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY. 10 This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, 11 shall apply with respect to any dispute or claim that arises 12 or accrues on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 13 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 May 16, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1979.RS S1979 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 May 16, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1979.RS S1979 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 396 118TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 1979 A BILL To amend title 9 of the United States Code with respect to arbitration of disputes involving age discrimination. MAY 16, 2024 Reported without amendment VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:06 May 16, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S1979.RS S1979 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS