[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2331 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2331

   To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to make invalid and 
    unenforceable predispute arbitration agreements with respect to 
controversies arising under provisions of such Act and to preserve the 
rights of servicemembers to bring class actions under such Act, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 19, 2015

 Mr. Reed (for himself and Mr. Graham) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to make invalid and 
    unenforceable predispute arbitration agreements with respect to 
controversies arising under provisions of such Act and to preserve the 
rights of servicemembers to bring class actions under such Act, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``SCRA Rights Protection Act of 
2015''.

SEC. 2. MAKING PREDISPUTE ARBITRATION UNENFORCEABLE WITH RESPECT TO 
              CONTROVERSIES UNDER SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF ACT.

    (a) In General.--Section 102 of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act 
(50 U.S.C. App. 512) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(d) Predispute Arbitration Unenforceable.--Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, no predispute arbitration agreement shall be 
valid or enforceable against a servicemember, or a servicemember and 
the servicemember's spouse jointly, with respect to any controversy 
subject to a provision of this Act.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 107(a) of such Act (50 U.S.C. 
App. 517(a)) is amended, in the first sentence, by striking ``A 
servicemember'' and inserting ``Except as provided in section 102(d) 
and subject to the provisions of this section, a servicemember''.
    (c) Applicability.--Subsection (d) of section 102 of such Act, as 
added by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to controversies 
arising after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON WAIVER OF RIGHTS AND PROTECTIONS UNDER 
              SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF ACT.

    (a) In General.--Section 107(a) of the Servicemembers Civil Relief 
Act (50 U.S.C. App. 517(a)) is amended--
            (1) in the second sentence, by inserting ``and if it is 
        made after a specific dispute has arisen and the dispute is 
        identified in the waiver'' after ``to which it applies''; and
            (2) in the third sentence, by inserting ``and if it is made 
        after a specific dispute has arisen and the dispute is 
        identified in the waiver'' after ``period of military 
        service''.
    (b) Applicability.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
apply with respect to waivers made on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. PRESERVATION OF RIGHT TO BRING CLASS ACTION UNDER 
              SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF ACT.

    (a) In General.--Section 802(a) of the Servicemembers Civil Relief 
Act (50 U.S.C. App. 597a(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(3) be a representative party on behalf of members of a 
        class or be a member of a class, in accordance with the Federal 
        Rules of Civil Procedure, notwithstanding any predispute 
        agreement to the contrary.''.
    (b) Construction.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall not 
be construed to imply that a person aggrieved by a violation of such 
Act did not have a right to bring a civil action as a representative 
party on behalf of members of a class or be a member of a class in a 
civil action before the date of the enactment of this Act.
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