Scott, Nadler, Murray Introduce Legislation to Protect Workers’ Rights by Ending Forced Arbitration in the Workplace
The Restoring Justice for Workers Act would ensure all workers can go to court and band together to vindicate their rights as employees
WASHINGTON – Today, Representatives Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA-03), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce, Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-12), Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, reintroduced the bicameral Restoring Justice for Workers Act. The legislation will end forced arbitration clauses, protect workers’ ability to pursue work-related claims in court, and allow workers to band together to vindicate their rights. Scott, Nadler, and Murray first introduced the bill in 2018.
The bill would override the 2018 Supreme Court decision, Epic Systems v. Lewis, which allowed employers to continue to enforce forced arbitration clauses against workers. These arbitration clauses prevent workers from banding together to enforce their legal rights and are often buried in the fine print of employment contracts, meaning many workers are not aware they’ve waived their rights. The use of forced arbitration clauses that block workers’ access to the courts has led to widespread non-enforcement of workers’ rights, including their right to minimum wage, overtime, and to a workplace free of discrimination.
“Workers should not be coerced into signing away their rights as a condition of their employment. Unfortunately, that is the reality for millions of workers across the country,” said Congressman Scott (VA-03). “Employers are increasingly using mandatory arbitration agreements to deny employees a fair venue to seek recourse for wage theft, discrimination, or harassment. The Supreme Court’s decision in Epic Systems v. Lewis went further by undermining workers’ rights to file joint, class, or collective legal actions. The Restoring Justice for Workers Act would help restore employees’ fundamental rights to have their day in court and join with their co-workers to hold employers accountable for unlawful conduct.”
“Mandatory arbitration clauses hurt workers by blocking them from pursuing justice for wage theft, discrimination, harassment, and other forms of corporate abuse and misconduct. These clauses are often hidden in the fine-print of employment contracts for the purpose of protecting corporations from facing consequences of violating their workers' rights,” said Congressman Nadler (NY-12). "Every worker deserves a workplace that honors their contributions with fair treatment, respect, and dignity. This bill protects employees' fundamental rights to access justice and empowers them to do so without unnecessary barriers. I urge my colleagues to support the Restoring Justice for Workers Act to protect and support American workers.”
“If an employer does something illegal, workers should be able to hold them accountable in a court of law. But far too often, big corporations will cynically leverage long and complicated employment contracts to stack the deck against their workers. It’s manipulative and wrong. This means that—for instance—if workers are victims of wage theft, they can’t join together and go to court because they signed those rights away when they started the job. Workers shouldn’t have to choose between waiving the ability to enforce their rights and earning a living,” said Senator Murray. “That’s why it’s far past time we put an end to the practice of forced arbitration—and this bill can do just that. I’ll keep fighting until the rights of every worker are protected.”
“Binding arbitration clauses are one of the worst forms of control employers have over workers. While forced arbitration in cases of sexual harassment was thankfully finally banned a few years ago, it's long past time we did away with this practice for all other types of violations of rights on the job as well,” said Samantha Sanders, Director of Government Affairs and Advocacy at the Economic Policy Institute. “Workers can still be forced to sign away their right to a day in court over wage theft, unsafe working conditions, racial discrimination, and more in a secretive, biased process that is tilted towards bosses. This bill would go a long way towards empowering workers – even those who don’t have the protection of a union – to have full access to the courts and the opportunity to hold their employers accountable for breaking the law."
The Restoring Justice for Workers Act would:
- Open the courthouse doors for workers by prohibiting the use of forced arbitration clauses in employment contracts and prohibiting employers from requiring employees to waive their right to engage in joint, class, or collective legal action;
- Reverse the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in Epic Systems, which dismantled workers’ right to band together to hold unscrupulous employers accountable;
- Uphold the rule of law, a cornerstone of our democracy, by ensuring that workers’ rights are enforceable through our justice system; and
- Ensure that post-dispute arbitration agreements are not obtained by threat or coercion, that the agreement is understandable, and that the employee affirmatively consents to the agreement in writing and is fully aware of their rights in the workplace.
In the House, the bill is also cosponsored by Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-At Large), Hank Johnson (GA-04), Julia Brownley (CA-26), and Jan Schakowsky (IL-09).
In the Senate, the bill is also cosponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
This bill is also endorsed by the American Association for Justice, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, and the Economic Policy Institute.
To read the bill text of the Restoring Justice for Workers Act, click here.
To read a fact sheet of the Restoring Justice for Workers Act, click here.
###
Press Contact
Democratic Press Office, 202-226-0853
Previous Article