Support the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act
“More than ever, it is vital that we restore people’s ability to access the courts by outlawing forced arbitration clauses in consumer and employee contracts through the passage of the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act.”
– Public Citizen’s Co-President, Robert Weissman
By: Martha Perez-Pedemonti
The ability to access the courts is critical for individuals to seek relief for corporate or government wrongdoing. Pursuing claims in the judicial system, however, has become increasingly difficult for consumers and workers because corporations increasingly to shield themselves from accountability by including forced arbitration clauses in consumer and employment contracts.
Forced arbitration clauses are contract provisions that specify that any future disputes with the company can be addressed only through arbitration and cannot be brought to court. These clauses are ubiquitous in nonnegotiable employment agreements, credit-card agreements, cellphone agreements, and countless other types of contracts. Forced arbitration clauses also typically include language prohibiting the worker or consumer from bringing class actions, making it easier for companies to get away with unlawful or unfair practices that harm many people but would not be efficient to challenge individually.
On September 15, 2025, the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act (FAIR) Act was reintroduced in the House by Rep. Johnson (D-GA) (H.R. 5350 ) and in the Senate by Sen. Blumenthal (D-CT) (S. 2799). The FAIR Act is the gold-standard legislation for protecting peoples’ access to the civil justice system. The FAIR Act would amend another law, the Federal Arbitration Act, to prohibit companies from barring consumers and workers from court by requiring them to any arbitrate disputes that might arise with the company. It would also prohibit consumer and employment contracts from banning class actions. At the same time, the FAIR Act would allow parties to choose arbitration after a dispute arises.
Senator Blumenthal and Representative Johnson hosted a virtual round table discussion announcing the reintroduction of the FAIR Act, which has more than 80 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives and 34 co-sponsors in the Senate. Robert Weissman, Public Citizen’s Co-President, a speaker at the virtual round table, highlighted the importance of the rapid passage of the FAIR Act, given the Trump Administration’s systematic refusal to enforce existing corporate accountability laws and regulations to the detriment of American consumers and employees. Public Citizen Co-President Robert Weissman warned that, particularly now, when the federal government is not protecting the rights of consumers or workers:
“All [consumers] have is what they can bring on behalf of themselves, plus whatever states or local officials may be able to do. That’s why it’s so vital that consumers be able to bring cases in court and are able to join together in class actions and collective actions, as well as for workers to do so, to protect their interests. But, as you’ve heard … the effect of forced arbitration is to foreclose the rights we are entitled to under the Constitution to get justice against corporations who wrong us as consumers or as workers.”
Public Citizen has a long history of fighting companies’ use of forced arbitration in contracts and advocating for legislation that would give employees and consumers the right to decide in what forum to bring their claims. Enacting the FAIR Act is a vital step to safeguard consumer and workers’ rights.
Take Action! Tell Congress to support the FAIR Act by signing this petition.