Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act

The Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act of 2019, also known as The FAIR ACT, is comprehensive legislation which prohibits 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] 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). Previous similar versions of this bill were 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]

Background

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 generally prohibits them from the choice of taking such claims to be heard in court and instead to closed-door arbitration proceedings, where they are less likely to receive an impartial hearing.[6]

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.[7] In November of 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.[8] In February 2019, Google announced they were ending their policy of forced arbitration for full-time employees.[9]

References
  1. "H.R.1423 - FAIR Act". Congress.gov. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  2. "S.610 - Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act". Congress.gov. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  3. "H.R.1374 - Arbitration Fairness Act of 2017". Congress.gov. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  4. "S.2591 - Arbitration Fairness Act of 2018". Congress.gov. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  5. "Actions - H.R.1423 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act". www.congress.gov. 2019-09-24. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  6. Fernández Campbell, Alexia (22 February 2019). "Google employees fought for their right to sue the company — and won". Vox. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  7. Ehrenkranz, Melanie (28 February 2019). "Google Workers' Fight to End Forced Arbitration Heads to D.C." Gizmodo. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  8. Ingram, David (15 January 2019). "Google employees launch campaign to end all forced arbitration". NBC News. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  9. Bastone, Nick (21 February 2019). "Google is ditching its mandatory-arbitration policy after mass protest". Business Insider. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
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