[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8608 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as ``Carrie's Law''.

SEC. 2. ARBITRATION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT CLAIMS.

    (a) In General.--Title 9 of the United States Code is amended by 
adding at the end the following:

           ``CHAPTER 4--ARBITRATION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT CLAIMS

``Sec.
``401. Definitions.
``402. Limit on validity and enforceability.
``Sec. 401. Definitions
    ``In this chapter--
            ``(1) the term `predispute arbitration agreement' means any 
        agreement to arbitrate a claim that had not yet arisen at the 
        time of the making of the agreement; and
            ``(2) the term `sexual assault' means a nonconsensual 
        sexual act or sexual contact, as those terms are defined in 
        section 2246 of title 18, or similar applicable State or Tribal 
        law, including when the victim lacks capacity to consent.
``Sec. 402. Limit on validity and enforceability
    ``(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
title, a predispute arbitration agreement shall have no force or effect 
with respect to a sexual assault claim.
    ``(b) Related Claims.--
            ``(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), and 
        notwithstanding any other provision of this title, a predispute 
        arbitration agreement shall have no force or effect with 
        respect to a claim asserted by a sexual assault victim that is 
        based upon that sexual assault.
            ``(2) Sexual assault claim dismissed.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If a court dismisses with 
                prejudice a sexual assault claim that, but for 
                subsection (a), would have been subject to a predispute 
                arbitration agreement--
                            ``(i) the court shall dismiss any other 
                        claim that, but for paragraph (1) of this 
                        subsection, would have been subject to a 
                        predispute arbitration agreement; and
                            ``(ii) the relevant predispute arbitration 
                        agreement shall apply with respect to any claim 
                        dismissed under clause (i).
                    ``(B) Tolling.--Any time period under a predispute 
                arbitration agreement that is applicable to a claim 
                dismissed under subparagraph (A)(i) shall be tolled 
                during the period during which the claim was pending 
                before a Federal court.
    ``(c) Applicability.--An issue as to whether this chapter applies 
to an arbitration agreement or a claim shall be determined under 
Federal law. The applicability of this chapter to an agreement to 
arbitrate or a claim and the force or effect of an agreement to which 
this chapter applies shall be determined by a court, rather than an 
arbitrator, irrespective of whether the party resisting arbitration 
challenges the arbitration agreement specifically or in conjunction 
with other terms of the contract containing such agreement.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) In general.--Title 9 of the United States Code is 
        amended--
                    (A) in section 2, by inserting ``or as otherwise 
                provided in chapter 4'' before the period at the end;
                    (B) in section 208--
                            (i) in the section heading, by striking 
                        ``Chapter 1; residual application'' and 
                        inserting ``Application''; and
                            (ii) by adding at the end the following: 
                        ``This chapter applies to the extent that this 
                        chapter is not in conflict with chapter 4.''; 
                        and
                    (C) in section 307--
                            (i) in the section heading, by striking 
                        ``Chapter 1; residual application'' and 
                        inserting ``Application''; and
                            (ii) by adding at the end the following: 
                        ``This chapter applies to the extent that this 
                        chapter is not in conflict with chapter 4.''.
            (2) Table of sections.--
                    (A) Chapter 2.--The table of sections for chapter 2 
                of title 9, United States Code, is amended by striking 
                the item relating to section 208 and inserting the 
                following:

``208. Application.''.
                    (B) Chapter 3.--The table of sections for chapter 3 
                of title 9, United States Code, is amended by striking 
                the item relating to section 307 and inserting the 
                following:

``307. Application.''.
            (3) Table of chapters.--The table of chapters for title 9, 
        United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
        following:

``4. Arbitration of sexual assault claims...................     401''.

SEC. 3. PROSPECTIVE EFFECT.

    This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall take effect on 
the date of enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect to any 
claim that arises on or after such date.
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