Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act

The Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act of 2022 is proposed legislation in the US Congress. The comprehensive legislation would prohibit pre-dispute, forced arbitration agreements from being valid or enforceable if it requires forced arbitration of an employment, consumer, or civil rights claim against a corporation.[1]

FAIR Act of 2022
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleTo amend title 9 of the United States Code with respect to arbitration.
Announced inthe 117th United States Congress
Number of co-sponsors203
Legislative history

The bill was introduced in the 116th Congress as H.R. 1423[1] and S. 610.[2] The bill's sponsors include Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). Similar versions of this bill were previously introduced in the 115th United States Congress as H.R. 1374 [3] and S. 2591.[4] The FAIR Act passed the House of Representatives on September 20, 2019, by a vote of 225 to 186.[5]

Blumenthal re-introduced the FAIR Act in the 117th Congress due to the FAIR Act not passing the Senate in the 116th Congress. The Senate version of the bill, S.505, has 39 cosponsors, all of them being Democrats.[6]

Background
Main articles: Arbitration clause and Class action waiver

Forced arbitration clauses are commonly found in contracts between individuals and businesses. In cases where individuals bring legal claims against their employer or a business, forced arbitration clauses generally prohibit them taking such claims to court and instead substitute closed-door arbitration proceedings, where they are less likely to receive an impartial hearing.[7]

Some employers have removed provisions from contracts subjecting their employees to forced arbitration amid public pressure regarding concerns that the practice inhibits the rights of workers to hold their employer accountable for allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination, and wage theft.[8] In November 2018, over 20,000 employees of the technology giant Google organized a walkout protest against the company in response to Google's policies around "equity and transparency in the workplace", which includes forced arbitration in worker contracts.[9] In February 2019, Google announced they were ending their policy of forced arbitration for full-time employees.[10]

Content

The FAIR Act defines arbitration clauses as "pre-dispute arbitration agreements" and aims to broadly end arbitration agreements for both consumers and employees. The act is planned as an amendment to the Title 9 of the United States Code, under which the new regulations would become Chapter 4.

Section 402, titled "No validity or enforceability", bans predispute arbitration agreements, as well as any predispute class action waivers in disputes regarding employment, trusts, civil rights, and/or in the sale of property and/or the usage of a service. The bill does not apply to contracts between employers and labor organizations, or between labor organizations, except if the provisions of the contract deprives workers of the right to seek judicial enforcement.

The act additionally amends Title 9 in the phrasings in section 1, 2, 208, and 307 to avoid conflict between sections and the new Chapter 4.[6]

Legislative history
Congress Short title Bill number(s) Date introduced Sponsor(s) # of cosponsors Latest status
115th Congress Arbitration Fairness Act of 2017 H.R. 1374 March 7, 2017 Hank Johnson (D-Georgia) 82 Died in committee.
S. 2591 March 7, 2017 Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) 32 Died in committee.
Arbitration Fairness Act of 2018 S.537 March 7, 2017 Al Franken (D-Minnesota) 26 Died in committee.
116th Congress FAIR Act H.R. 1423 February 28, 2019 Hank Johnson (D-Georgia) 222 Passed in the House.
Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act S. 610 February 28, 2019 Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) 38 Died in committee.
117th Congress FAIR Act of 2022 H.R. 1374 February 11, 2021 Hank Johnson (D-Georgia) 203 Passed in the House.
Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act S.505 March 1, 2021 Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) 39 Referred to committees of jurisdiction.

References
  1. "H.R.1423 - FAIR Act". Congress.gov. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  2. "S.610 - Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act". Congress.gov. February 28, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  3. "H.R.1374 - Arbitration Fairness Act of 2017". Congress.gov. March 17, 2017. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  4. "S.2591 - Arbitration Fairness Act of 2018". Congress.gov. March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  5. "Actions - H.R.1423 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act". www.congress.gov. September 24, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
  6. Blumenthal, Richard (March 1, 2021). "Text - S.505 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act". www.congress.gov. Retrieved July 21, 2021.
  7. Fernández Campbell, Alexia (February 22, 2019). "Google employees fought for their right to sue the company – and won". Vox. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  8. Ehrenkranz, Melanie (February 28, 2019). "Google Workers' Fight to End Forced Arbitration Heads to D.C." Gizmodo. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  9. Ingram, David (January 15, 2019). "Google employees launch campaign to end all forced arbitration". NBC News. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  10. Bastone, Nick (February 21, 2019). "Google is ditching its mandatory-arbitration policy after mass protest". Business Insider. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
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