HB 853 2022
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to unlawful employment practices; 2
amending s. 760.10, F.S.; revising the unlawful 3
employment practices in the Florida Civil Rights Act 4
of 1992 to include discriminatory practices relating 5
to military status; reenacting s. 760.11(1) and (15) , 6
F.S., relating to administrative and civil remedies, 7
to incorporate the amendment made to s. 760.10, F.S., 8
in references thereto ; providing an effective date. 9
10
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 11
12
Section 1. Subsections (1) and (2), paragraphs (a) and (b) 13
of subsection (3), subsections (4), (5), and (6), and paragraph 14
(a) of subsection (8) of section 760.10, Florida Statutes, are 15
amended to read: 16
760.10 Unlawful employment practices. — 17
(1) It is an unlawful employment prac tice for an employer: 18
(a) To discharge or to fail or refuse to hire any 19
individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual 20
with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges 21
of employment, because of such individual's race, color , 22
religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, 23
military status, or marital status. 24
(b) To limit, segregate, or classify employees or 25
HB 853 2022
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend 26
to deprive any individual of employment opp ortunities, or 27
adversely affect any individual's status as an employee, because 28
of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, 29
national origin, age, handicap, military status, or marital 30
status. 31
(2) It is an unlawful employment practice for an 32
employment agency to fail or refuse to refer for employment, or 33
otherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of 34
race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, 35
handicap, military status, or marital status or to classify or 36
refer for employment any individual on the basis of race, color, 37
religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, 38
military status, or marital status. 39
(3) It is an unlawful employment practice for a labor 40
organization: 41
(a) To exclude or to expel fr om its membership, or 42
otherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of 43
race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, 44
handicap, military status, or marital status. 45
(b) To limit, segregate, or classify its membership or 46
applicants for membership, or to classify or fail or refuse to 47
refer for employment any individual, in any way that would 48
deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment 49
opportunities, or adversely affect any individual's status as an 50
HB 853 2022
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
employee or as an appl icant for employment, because of such 51
individual's race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national 52
origin, age, handicap, military status, or marital status. 53
(4) It is an unlawful employment practice for any 54
employer, labor organization, or joint labor -management 55
committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or 56
retraining, including on -the-job training programs, to 57
discriminate against any individual because of race, color, 58
religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, 59
military status, or marital status in admission to, or 60
employment in, any program established to provide apprenticeship 61
or other training. 62
(5) Whenever, in order to engage in a profession, 63
occupation, or trade, it is required that a person receive a 64
license, certification, or other credential, become a member or 65
an associate of any club, association, or other organization, or 66
pass any examination, it is an unlawful employment practice for 67
any person to discriminate against any other person seeking such 68
license, certification, or other credential, seeking to become a 69
member or associate of such club, association, or other 70
organization, or seeking to take or pass such examination, 71
because of such other person's race, color, religion, sex, 72
pregnancy, national origin, age, h andicap, military status, or 73
marital status. 74
(6) It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer, 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
labor organization, employment agency, or joint labor -management 76
committee to print, or cause to be printed or published, any 77
notice or advertisement relating to employment, membership, 78
classification, referral for employment, or apprenticeship or 79
other training, indicating any preference, limitation, 80
specification, or discrimination, based on race, color, 81
religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, absence of 82
handicap, military status, or marital status. 83
(8) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, 84
it is not an unlawful employment practice under ss. 760.01 -85
760.10 for an employer, employment agency, labor organization, 86
or joint labor-management committee to: 87
(a) Take or fail to take any action on the basis of 88
religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, 89
military status, or marital status in those certain instances in 90
which religion, sex, condition of pregnancy, nat ional origin, 91
age, absence of a particular handicap, military status, or 92
marital status is a bona fide occupational qualification 93
reasonably necessary for the performance of the particular 94
employment to which such action or inaction is related. 95
Section 2. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 96
made by this act to section 760.10, Florida Statutes, in 97
references thereto, subsections (1) and (15) of section 760.11, 98
Florida Statutes, are reenacted to read: 99
760.11 Administrative and civil remedies; construction.— 100
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(1) Any person aggrieved by a violation of ss. 760.01 -101
760.10 may file a complaint with the commission within 365 days 102
of the alleged violation, naming the employer, employment 103
agency, labor organization, or joint labor -management committee, 104
or, in the case of an alleged violation of s. 760.10(5), the 105
person responsible for the violation and describing the 106
violation. Any person aggrieved by a violation of s. 509.092 may 107
file a complaint with the commission within 365 days of the 108
alleged violation naming the person responsible for the 109
violation and describing the violation. The commission, a 110
commissioner, or the Attorney General may in like manner file 111
such a complaint. On the same day the complaint is filed with 112
the commission, the commissio n shall clearly stamp on the face 113
of the complaint the date the complaint was filed with the 114
commission. In lieu of filing the complaint with the commission, 115
a complaint under this section may be filed with the federal 116
Equal Employment Opportunity Commissi on or with any unit of 117
government of the state which is a fair -employment-practice 118
agency under 29 C.F.R. ss. 1601.70 -1601.80. If the date the 119
complaint is filed is clearly stamped on the face of the 120
complaint, that date is the date of filing. The date the 121
complaint is filed with the commission for purposes of this 122
section is the earliest date of filing with the Equal Employment 123
Opportunity Commission, the fair -employment-practice agency, or 124
the commission. The complaint shall contain a short and plain 125
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statement of the facts describing the violation and the relief 126
sought. The commission may require additional information to be 127
in the complaint. The commission, within 5 days of the complaint 128
being filed, shall by registered mail send a copy of the 129
complaint to the person who allegedly committed the violation. 130
The person who allegedly committed the violation may file an 131
answer to the complaint within 25 days of the date the complaint 132
was filed with the commission. Any answer filed shall be mailed 133
to the aggrieved person by the person filing the answer. Both 134
the complaint and the answer shall be verified. 135
(15) In any civil action or administrative proceeding 136
brought pursuant to this section, a finding that a person 137
employed by the state or any governmental enti ty or agency has 138
violated s. 760.10 shall as a matter of law constitute just or 139
substantial cause for such person's discharge. 140
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 141