[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1979 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st 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, and Mr. Blumenthal) introduced the following bill; which was 
       read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Older Americans Act of 
2023''.

SEC. 2. PREDISPUTE ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES INVOLVING AGE 
              DISCRIMINATION.

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

   ``CHAPTER 5--ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES INVOLVING AGE DISCRIMINATION

``Sec.
``501. Definitions.
``502. No validity or enforceability.
``Sec. 501. Definitions
    ``In this chapter:
            ``(1) Age discrimination dispute.--The term `age 
        discrimination dispute' means a dispute relating to conduct 
        that is alleged to constitute age discrimination against a 
        person who is not less than 40 years of age in any form, 
        including disparate treatment, disparate impact, harassment, 
        and retaliation, that is prohibited under applicable Federal, 
        Tribal, or State law (including local law).
            ``(2) Predispute arbitration agreement; predispute joint-
        action waiver.--The terms `predispute arbitration agreement' 
        and `predispute joint-action waiver' have the meanings given 
        the terms in section 401.
``Sec. 502. No validity or enforceability
    ``(a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this 
title, at the election of the person alleging conduct constituting an 
age discrimination dispute, or the named representative of a class or 
in a collective action alleging such conduct, no predispute arbitration 
agreement or predispute joint-action waiver shall be valid or 
enforceable with respect to a case which is filed under Federal, 
Tribal, or State law and relates to the age discrimination dispute.
    ``(b) Determination of Applicability.--An issue as to whether this 
chapter applies with respect to a dispute shall be determined under 
Federal law. The applicability of this chapter to an agreement to 
arbitrate and the validity and enforceability 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, and 
irrespective of whether the agreement purports to delegate such 
determinations to an arbitrator.''.
    (b) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) In general.--Title 9 of the United States Code is 
        amended--
                    (A) in section 2, by inserting ``or 5'' before the 
                period at the end;
                    (B) in section 208, in the second sentence, by 
                inserting ``or 5'' before the period at the end; and
                    (C) in section 307, in the second sentence, by 
                inserting ``or 5'' before the period at the end.
            (2) Table of chapters.--The table of chapters for title 9, 
        United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
        following:

``5. Arbitration  of disputes involving age discrimination..    501.''.

SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY.

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