Private right of action

(a) Enforcement by individuals (1) In general Any individual or class of individuals alleging a violation of title I, II, or III, or a regulation promulgated thereunder, may bring a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction. (2) Relief In a civil action brought under paragraph (1) in which the plaintiff prevails, the court may award— (A) treble damages or $15,000 per violation, whichever is greater; (B) nominal damages; (C) punitive damages; (D) reasonable attorney’s fees and litigation costs; and (E) any other relief, including equitable or declaratory relief, that the court determines appropriate. (3) Rights of the Commission and State attorneys general (A) In general Prior to an individual bringing a civil action under paragraph (1), such individual shall notify the Commission and the attorney general of the State where such individual resides, in writing and including a description of the allegations included in the civil action, that such individual intends to bring a civil action under such paragraph. Not later than 60 days after receiving such notice, the Commission and State attorney general shall each or jointly make a determination and respond to such individual as to whether they will intervene in such action. The Commission and State attorney general shall have a right to intervene in any civil action under paragraph (1), and upon intervening, to be heard on all matters arising in such action and file petitions for appeal of a decision in such action. If a State attorney general does intervene, they shall only be heard with respect to the interests of the residents of their State. (B) Retained authority Subparagraph (A) shall not be construed to limit the authority of the Commission or any applicable State attorney general to, at a later date, commence a civil action or intervene by motion if the Commission or State attorney general does not commence a proceeding or civil action within the 60-day period described in such subparagraph. (b) Invalidity of pre-Dispute arbitration agreements and pre-Dispute joint action waivers (1) In general Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no pre-dispute arbitration agreement or pre-dispute joint action waiver shall be valid or enforceable with regard to a dispute arising under this Act. (2) Applicability Any determination as to whether or how this subsection applies to any dispute shall be made by a court, rather than an arbitrator, without regard to whether such agreement purports to delegate such determination to an arbitrator. (3) Definitions For purposes of this subsection: (A) Pre-dispute arbitration agreement The term pre-dispute arbitration agreement means any agreement to arbitrate a dispute that has not arisen at the time of the making of the agreement. (B) Pre-dispute joint-action waiver The term pre-dispute joint-action waiver means an agreement, whether or not part of a pre-dispute arbitration agreement, that would prohibit or waive the right of 1 of the parties to the agreement to participate in a joint, class, or collective action in a judicial, arbitral, administrative, or other related forum, concerning a dispute that has not yet arisen at the time of the making of the agreement.