US House Rep Susan Davis' office issued the following:
Washington, September 20, 2019
Congresswoman Susan Davis (CA-53) voted to restore the
rights of consumers and workers by prohibiting the enforcement of
mandatory, pre-dispute arbitration (“forced arbitration”) provisions in
contracts involving consumers, employment, antitrust, and civil rights
disputes. The Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act restores
access to the courts for millions of American consumers and employees
who are currently locked out by forced arbitration.
“Forced arbitration is a rigged system that benefits
companies and corporations at the expense of consumers, workers, and
small businesses,” said Rep. Davis, a cosponsor of the FAIR Act. “The
House voted to restore these rights and give millions of Americans the
right to their day in court.”
Most companies bury forced arbitration clauses deep in the
fine print of take-it-or-leave-it consumer and employment contracts,
which many consumers and employees don’t even notice. For millions of
consumers and employees, the pre-condition – whether or not they are
aware – of obtaining a basic service or product, such as a bank account,
a cell phone, a credit card, or even a job, is that they must agree to
resolve any disputes in private arbitration.
According to a report from CNBC, “81 of the biggest 100
companies in America have put legal clauses in the fine print of their
customer agreements that bar consumers from suing them in federal court
and instead force victims to pursue a private dispute resolution method
called arbitration, where they argue their case outside of the court
system.”
Often the forced arbitration clauses include provisions
granting the corporation the ability to choose the arbitrator and also
stipulating what arbitration rules apply – in effect, giving the
corporation quite
literally the role of the judge, the jury, and the
law.
The FAIR Act restores the private arbitration system to the
original intent of the 1925 Federal Arbitration Act – providing it as a
voluntary, alternative process for resolving disputes, primarily for
those with relatively equal bargaining power.
This bill is supported by a broad coalition of more than 70
public interest, labor, consumer, civil rights, and advocacy
organizations, including Public Citizen, Consumer Reports, Earthjustice,
Alliance for Justice, the American Association of Justice, the
Communications Workers of America, the Leadership Conference of Civil
Rights, the NAACP, and the American Antitrust Institute.
