House passes bill to ban mandatory arbitration agreements; White House threatens veto 

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From JDSupra, Alan S. Kaplinsky reports that Congress passed a bill that would prohibit arbitration agreements in employment agreements. Alan notes that, if passed, it is likely to be vetoed and there are not the votes to override a veto. Alan writes:

This past Friday, by a vote of 225-186, the House passed H.R. 1423, the “Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act.”  A Senate companion bill (S. 610) was introduced in February 2019 and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  No action has been taken on the Senate bill.

The House bill would amend the Federal Arbitration Act to provide that “no predispute arbitration agreement or predispute joint-action waiver shall be valid or enforceable with respect to an employment dispute, consumer dispute, or civil rights dispute.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee currently has 22 members, consisting of 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats.  However, two of the Republican committee members, Lindsey Graham, the Committee Chair, and John Kennedy, voted against the Congressional Review Act resolution to override the CFPB’s arbitration rule.  As a result, it is not inconceivable that the FAIR Act could be passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.  The Senate currently consists of 51 Republicans, 47 Democrats, and 2 independents who caucus with the Democrats.  Given that there are at least two Republican Senators who would likely support the FAIR Act (Senators Graham and Kennedy), there could be enough votes in the Senate to pass the FAIR Act.  For that reason,  it is comforting to know that President Trump would veto the FAIR Act.  Should he do so, it is very doubtful that there would be enough votes in the Senate to override the veto.

Source: House passes bill to ban mandatory arbitration agreements; White House threatens veto | Ballard Spahr LLP – JDSupra

1 thought on “House passes bill to ban mandatory arbitration agreements; White House threatens veto 

  1. Mission foods tortilla company in CA, is a good example why the new law ab5 is well pass for many years they gave abuse the system and mistreat their supposedly independent contractors with a culture of mendacity,

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