Senator Franken Introduces Arbitration Fairness Act

Once again an Arbitration Fairness Act (S. 878) has been introduced into Congress to prohibit mandatory arbitration clauses in disputes involving antitrust claims, civil rights claims, consumer claims (including services related to securities and other investments), and employment claims.  While similar measures introduced in recent years have gone nowhere, some Congressional representatives, including Senator Franken, who introduced this bill, have been energized by the Supreme Court's endorsement of class waivers in consumer arbitration contracts in Concepcion and the recent inclusion of a class action waiver by Charles Schwab in its brokerage agreements (which was upheld by a FINRA hearing panel and is now on appeal to FINRA's appellate body).

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