PRIA Logo™
Title 9, ArbitrationRelease 119-110

§402 No Validity or Enforceability

Title 9 › CHAPTER 4 — ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES INVOLVING SEXUAL ASSAULT AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT › § 402

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

A person who says they were sexually assaulted or sexually harassed, or the lead person in a class or collective case, can choose not to be bound by any agreement made before the dispute that forces arbitration or stops group lawsuits. Those pre-dispute arbitration or joint-action waivers are not valid for cases filed under Federal, Tribal, or State law about the assault or harassment. Whether this rule applies is decided under federal law. A judge, not an arbitrator, must decide if an arbitration agreement applies or is valid, even if the contract says an arbitrator should decide.

Full Legal Text

Title 9, §402

Arbitration, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In General.—
Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, at the election of the person alleging conduct constituting a sexual harassment dispute or sexual assault dispute, or the named representative of a class or in a collective action alleging such conduct, no predispute arbitration agreement or predispute joint-action waiver shall be valid or enforceable with respect to a case which is filed under Federal, Tribal, or State law and relates to the sexual assault dispute or the sexual harassment dispute.
(b)Determination of Applicability.—
An issue as to whether this chapter applies with respect to a dispute shall be determined under Federal law. The applicability of this chapter to an agreement to arbitrate and the validity and enforceability of an agreement to which this chapter applies shall be determined by a court, rather than an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the party resisting arbitration challenges the arbitration agreement specifically or in conjunction with other terms of the contract containing such agreement, and irrespective of whether the agreement purports to delegate such determinations to an arbitrator.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section applicable with respect to any dispute or claim that arises or accrues on or after Mar. 3, 2022, see section 3 of Pub. L. 117–90, set out as a note under section 401 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

9 U.S.C. § 402

Title 9, Arbitration

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110