Washington, D.C. — Today. U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, joined Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and U.S. Representative Hank Johnson (D, GA-04) to introduce the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act re-establishing Americans’ Seventh Amendment right to seek justice and accountability through the court system. The FAIR Act would eliminate forced arbitration clauses in employment, consumer, and civil rights cases. Instead of forcing arbitration, the FAIR Act would allow consumers and workers to choose between arbitration and the Court system after a dispute occurs.
“Workers and consumers should always have access to the courts to fight back against workplace discrimination or unsafe conditions,” said Senator Murray. “Forced arbitration clauses allow corporations to dictate the terms of a legal dispute and hide the details of the case from other affected workers or consumers—and that is completely unethical. I will always fight to protect workers’ rights across the country, and I’m proud to reintroduce this legislation to eliminate forced arbitration clauses and give workers more tools to pursue justice when they are wronged.”
Forced arbitration clauses restrict Americans’ access to justice by stripping consumers and workers of their right to go to court. Instead, consumers and workers are forced into an unfair arbitration system where corporations can write the rules; everything can be done in secret, without public rulings; discovery can be limited, making it hard for consumers to get the evidence they need to prove their case; and there’s no meaningful judicial review, so consumers and employees are often unable to appeal a decision even if the arbitrator gets it wrong. The New York Times documented the ills of forced arbitration clauses in consumer and employment contracts in its 2015 investigative series entitled Arbitration Everywhere, Stacking the Deck of Justice.
Senator Murray has worked to end forced arbitration clauses for years and also leads the bicameral Restoring Justice for Workers Act, which would protect workers’ ability to pursue work-related claims in court.
In addition to Senators Murray and Blumenthal, the FAIR Act is co-sponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-W), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
The FAIR Act is supported by: American Association for Justice; Americans for Financial Reform; Center for Auto Safety, Center for Biological Diversity; Center for Economic Integrity, Center for Economic Justice; Center for Justice & Democracy; Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research (CLEAR); Center for Progressive Reform; Center for Responsible Lending; Committee to Support the Antitrust Laws; Consumer Action; Consumer Federation of America; Consumer Reports; Consumer Watchdog; Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety; DC Consumer Rights Coalition; Earthjustice; Economic Policy Institute; Essential Information; Farmworker Association of Florida; Food & Water Watch; Impact Fund; Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute; Justice in Aging; Kansas Holistic Defenders; Long Term Care Community Coalition; Mobilization for Justice; National Association of Consumer Advocates; National Association of the Deaf; National Center for Law and Economic Justice; National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care; National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care; National Consumers League, National Disability Rights Network (NDRN); National Employment Law Project; National Employment Lawyers Association; National Institute for Workers’ Rights; National Urban League, National Women’s Law Center, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice; Northwest Workers’ Justice Project,; Oregon Consumer League; Public Citizen; Public Good Law Center; Public Justice; Public Justice Center; Rise Economy (formerly California Reinvestment Coalition); South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center; Student Borrower Protection Center; Texas Appleseed; The Sikh Coalition; Tzedek DC; United Way of Central Texas, Center for Community Impact; Virginia Citizens Consumer Counsel.
The full text of the bill can be found HERE.
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