1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2018 . 2. Findings The Congress finds the following: (1) The Federal Arbitration Act (now enacted as chapter 1 of title 9 of the United States Code) was intended to apply to disputes between commercial entities of generally similar sophistication and bargaining power. (2) A series of decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States have interpreted the Act so that it now extends to consumer disputes and employment disputes, contrary to the intent of Congress. (3) Most consumers and employees have little or no meaningful choice whether to submit their claims to arbitration. Often, consumers and employees are not even aware that they have given up their rights. (4) Mandatory arbitration undermines the development of public law because there is inadequate transparency and inadequate judicial review of arbitrators' decisions. (5) Arbitration can be an acceptable alternative when consent to the arbitration is truly voluntary, and occurs after the dispute arises. 3. Arbitration of employment, consumer, antitrust, and civil rights disputes (a) In general Title 9 of the United States Code is amended by adding at the end the following: 4 Arbitration of employment, consumer, antitrust, and civil rights disputes Sec. 401. Definitions. 402. Validity and enforceability. 401. Definitions In this chapter— (1) the term antitrust dispute means a dispute— (A) involving a claim for damages allegedly caused by a violation of the antitrust laws (as defined in subsection (a) of the first section of the Clayton Act ( 15 U.S.C. 12 )) or State antitrust laws; and (B) in which the plaintiffs seek certification as a class under rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or a comparable rule or provision of State law; (2) the term civil rights dispute means a dispute— (A) arising under— (i) the Constitution of the United States or the constitution of a State