Substitute Senate Bill No. 1023
Public Act No. 21-109
AN ACT CONCERNING THE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF
THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subparagraph (A) of subdivision (4) of subsection (b) of
section 46a-68 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is
substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021):
(4) (A) Each person designated by a state agency, department, board
or commission as an equal employment opportunity officer shall (i) be
responsible for mitigating any discriminatory conduct within the
agency, department, board or commission, (ii) investigate all complaints
of discrimination made against the state agency, department, board or
commission, except if any such complaint has been filed with the
Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities or the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission, the state agency, department,
board or commission may rely upon the process of the applicable
commission, as applicable, in lieu of such investigation, and (iii) report
all findings and recommendations upon the conclusion of an
investigation to the commissioner or director of the state agency,
department, board or commission for proper action. An equal
employment opportunity officer shall not disclose witness statements or
documents received or compiled in conjunction with the investigation Substitute Senate Bill No. 1023
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of a complaint of discriminatory conduct within the agency,
department, board or commission until the conclusion of such
investigation, except that witness statements or documents may be
disclosed to personnel charged with investigating or adjudicating such
complaint, or to the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.
If a state agency, department, board or commission relies upon the
process of an applicable commission investigation pursuant to clause
(ii) of this subparagraph, such agency, department, board or
commission shall not be relieved of its duty to mitigate discriminatory
conduct under clause (i) of this subparagraph or of its responsibility to
take immediate corrective action to prevent a like occurrence.
Sec. 2. Subsection (b) of section 46a-84 of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October
1, 2021):
(b) Upon (1) certification of a complaint filed pursuant to subsection
(a) or (b) of section 46a-82, (2) the filing of a complaint pursuant to
subsection (c) of said section, or (3) a decision to hear a complaint, which
is made pursuant to subsection (e) of section 46a-83, the Chief Human
Rights Referee shall appoint a human rights referee to act as a presiding
officer to hear the complaint. The chief referee shall also appoint an
individual authorized by subsection (e) of this section or a referee, other
than the referee appointed to hear the complaint, to conduct settlement
negotiations. The chief referee shall serve in the name of the
commission, and in accordance with section 46a-86a, a copy of the
complaint, as the same may have been amended, requiring the
respondent to answer the charges of the complaint, together with a
written notice requiring the respondent to appear at a hearing or
settlement conference at a date and time specified in the notice. A
hearing on a complaint filed pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of section
46a-82 shall be commenced by convening a hearing conference not later
than forty-five days after the certification of the complaint. Such hearing Substitute Senate Bill No. 1023
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shall be a de novo hearing on the merits of the complaint and not an
appeal of the commission's processing of the complaint prior to its
certification. A hearing on a complaint filed pursuant to subsection (c)
of section 46a-82 shall be commenced by convening a hearing
conference not later than twenty days after the date of notice of such
complaint. Hearings shall proceed with reasonable dispatch and be
concluded in accordance with the provisions of section 4-180.
Sec. 3. Section 46a-68c of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021):
In addition to the provisions of section 4a-60, each contractor with
fifty or more employees awarded a public works contract, municipal
public works contract or contract for a quasi-public agency project in
excess of fifty thousand dollars in any fiscal year, but not subject to the
provisions of section 46a-68d, shall develop and file with the
Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities an affirmative action
plan which shall comply with regulations adopted by the commission.
The executive director or the executive director's designee shall review
and formally approve, conditionally approve or disapprove the content
of the affirmative action plan not later than one hundred twenty days
following the date of the submission of the plan to the commission. If
the executive director or the executive director's designee fails to
approve, conditionally approve or disapprove a plan within such one-
hundred-twenty-day period, the plan shall be deemed to be either
approved or deficient without consequence. The executive director or
the executive director's designee shall, not later than fifteen days after
the date of deeming an affirmative action plan approved or deficient
without consequence, provide the contractor with written notification
of the action taken with respect to such plan. Failure to develop an
[approved] affirmative action plan [pursuant to this section] that is
either approved or deficient without consequence shall act as a bar to
bidding on or the award of future contracts until such requirement has Substitute Senate Bill No. 1023
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been met. When the executive director or the executive director's
designee approves an affirmative action plan pursuant to this section,
the executive director or the executive director's designee shall issue a
certificate of compliance to the contractor. Such certificate shall be prima
facie proof of the contractor's eligibility to bid or be awarded contracts
for a period of two years from the date of the certificate. Such certificate
shall not excuse the contractor from monitoring by the commission or
from the reporting and record-keeping requirements of sections 46a-68e
and 46a-68f. The executive director or the executive director's designee
may revoke the certificate of a contractor if the contractor does not
implement its affirmative action plan in compliance with this section
and sections 4a-60, 4a-60g, 4a-62, 46a-56, 46a-68b, 46a-68d, and 46a-68e
to 46a-68k, inclusive.
Sec. 4. Subdivision (15) of section 46a-54 of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October
1, 2021):
(15) To require an employer having three or more employees to (A)
post in a prominent and accessible location information concerning the
illegality of sexual harassment and remedies available to victims of
sexual harassment, (B) provide, not later than three months after the
employee's start date with the employer, a copy of the information
concerning the illegality of sexual harassment and remedies available to
victims of sexual harassment to each employee by electronic mail with
a subject line that includes the words "Sexual Harassment Policy" or
words of similar import, if (i) the employer has provided an electronic
mail account to the employee, or (ii) the employee has provided the
employer with an electronic mail address, provided if an employer has
not provided an electronic mail account to the employee, the employer
shall post the information concerning the illegality of sexual harassment
and remedies available to victims of sexual harassment on the
employer's Internet web site, if the employer maintains such an Internet Substitute Senate Bill No. 1023
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web site. An employer may comply with the requirements of this
subparagraph, by providing an employee with the link to the
commission's Internet web site concerning the illegality of sexual
harassment and the remedies available to victims of sexual harassment
by electronic mail, text message or in writing; and (C) provide two hours
of training and education to employees within one year of October 1,
2019, provided any employer who has provided such training and
education to any such employees after October 1, 2018, shall not be
required to provide such training and education a second time. An
employer having (i) three or more employees, shall provide such
training and education to an employee hired on or after October 1, 2019,
not later than six months after the date of his or her hire, provided the
commission has developed and made available such training and
education materials in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (8)
of subsection (a) of section 46a-56; or (ii) less than three employees shall
provide such training and education to all supervisory employees
within one year of October 1, 2019, and to all new supervisory
employees within six months of their assumption of a supervisory
position, provided any employer who has provided such training and
education to any such supervisory employees after October 1, 2018, shall
not be required to provide such training and education a second time.
Any supervisory employee hired on or after October 1, 2019, by an
employer having less than three employees, shall receive such training
and education not later than six months after the date of his or her hire,
provided the commission has developed and made available such
training and education materials in accordance with the provisions of
subdivision (8) of subsection (a) of section 46a-56. Such training and
education shall include information concerning the federal and state
statutory provisions concerning sexual harassment and remedies
available to victims of sexual harassment. If an employee has received
in-person training provided by the commission or has taken the no cost
online training provided by the commission on its Internet web site in
accordance with the provisions of subdivision (8) of subsection (a) of Substitute Senate Bill No. 1023
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section 46a-56, while employed by a different employer within the two
years preceding the date of hire, an employer may consider such prior
training to satisfy the training requirements of this section. An employer
who is required to provide training under this subdivision shall provide
periodic supplemental training that updates all supervisory and
nonsupervisory employees on the content of such training and
education not less than every ten years. As used in this subdivision,
"sexual harassment" has the same meaning as provided in subdivision
(8) of subsection (b) of section 46a-60 and "employer" includes the
General Assembly and "employee" means any individual employed by
an employer, including an individual employed by such individual's
parent, spouse or child;
Sec. 5. Subsection (f) of section 46a-82 of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October
1, 2021):
(f) (1) Any complaint filed pursuant to this section for an alleged act
of discrimination that occurred prior to October 1, 2021, shall be filed
within one hundred and eighty days after the date of the alleged act of
discrimination, except that any complaint by a person [(1)] (A) claiming
to be aggrieved by a violation of subsection (a) of section 46a-80 that
occurred on or before October 1, 2019, shall be filed within thirty days
of the date of the alleged act of discrimination, and [(2)] (B) claiming to
be aggrieved by a violation of section 46a-60, sections 46a-70 to 46a-78,
inclusive, or section 46a-80 or 46a-81c, that occurred on or after October
1, 2019, and prior to October 1, 2021, shall be filed not later than three
hundred days after the date of the alleged act of discrimination.
(2) Any complaint filed pursuant to this section for an alleged act of
discrimination that occurred on or after October 1, 2021, shall be filed
within three hundred days after the date of the alleged act of
discrimination. Substitute Senate Bill No. 1023
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