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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 64
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 4909
Referred to Committee on LABOR AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEES
Introduced by:
(LAB)
AN ACT CONCERNING CA PTIVE AUDIENCE MEETINGS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2019) (a) As used in this 1
section: 2
(1) "Employer" means a person engaged in business who has more 3
than one employee, including the state and any political subdivision of 4
the state; 5
(2) "Employee" means any person engaged in service to an employer 6
in a business of such employer; 7
(3) "Political matters" means matters relating to: Elections for 8
political office, political parties, legislation, regulation and the decision 9
to join or support any political party or political, civic, community, 10
fraternal or labor organization; and 11
(4) "Religious matters" means matters relating to religious affiliation 12
and practice and the decision to join or support any religious 13
organization or association. 14
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(b) Except as provided in subsection (f) of this section, no employer, 15
or agent, representative or designee of such employer shall require an 16
employee to attend an employer-sponsored meeting with the 17
employer or its agent, representative or designee, the primary purpose 18
of which is to communicate the employer's opinion concerning 19
political or religious matters, except that an employer or its agent, 20
representative or designee may communicate to an employee any 21
information concerning political or religious matters that the employer 22
is required by law to communicate, but only to the extent of such legal 23
requirement. 24
(c) No employer, or agent, representative or designee of such 25
employer, shall discharge, discipline or penalize, or threaten to 26
discharge, discipline or penalize, any employee because the employee, 27
or a person acting on behalf of the employee, makes a good-faith 28
report, orally or in writing, of a violation or a suspected violation of 29
the provisions of this section. The provisions of this subsection shall 30
not apply when the employee knows that such report is false. 31
(d) Any employee who is discharged, disciplined or penalized in 32
violation of the provisions of this section may bring a civil action, not 33
later than ninety days after the date of the alleged violation, in the 34
superior court for the judicial district where the violation is alleged to 35
have occurred or where the employer has its principal office. The court 36
may award a prevailing employee all appropriate relief, including 37
rehiring or reinstatement of the employee to the employee's former 38
position, back pay and reestablishment of any employee benefits to 39
which the employee would otherwise have been eligible if such 40
violation had not occurred. The court shall award a prevailing 41
employee treble damages, together with reasonable attorney's fees and 42
costs. 43
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit an employee's 44
right to bring a common law cause of action against an employer for 45
wrongful termination or to diminish or impair the rights of a person 46
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under any collective bargaining agreement. 47
(f) Nothing in this section shall prohibit: (1) A religious organization 48
from requiring its employees to attend a meeting sponsored by such 49
religious organization or to participate in any communications with 50
such religious organization or its agent, representative or designee, the 51
primary purpose of which is to communicate such religious 52
organization's religious beliefs, practices or tenets; (2) a political 53
organization from requiring its employees to attend a meeting 54
sponsored by such political organization or to participate in any 55
communications with such political organization or its agent, 56
representative or designee, the primary purpose of which is to 57
communicate such political organization's political tenets or purposes; 58
(3) an institution of higher education, or any agent, representative or 59
designee of such institution, from meeting with or participating in any 60
communications with its employees concerning political or religious 61
matters that are part of the regular coursework or any symposia or 62
academic program at such institution; (4) casual conversations 63
between employees, between an employee and an employer or 64
between an employee and an agent, representative or designee of an 65
employer, provided participation in such conversations is not required 66
and such conversations occur in the normal course of the employee's 67
duties; (5) an employer from discussing legislation, regulations, 68
executive orders or other government actions with an employee that 69
may directly impact the employer's business, how the employer's 70
business may be conducted or how an employee's work may be 71
performed; or (6) a requirement limited to the employer's managerial 72
and supervisory employees. 73
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 New section
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Statement of Purpose:
To prohibit an employer from coercing employees into attending or
participating in meetings sponsored by the employer concerning the
employer's views on political or religious matters.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: SEN. LOONEY, 11th Dist.; REP. WINKLER, 56th Dist.
S.B. 64