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AN ACT relating to legislative ethics. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
SECTION 1. A NEW SECTION OF KRS 6.601 TO 6.849 IS CREATED TO 3
READ AS FOLLOWS: 4
(1) A legislator or legislative agent shall not engage in discrimination against or 5
sexual harassment of any legislator, legislative agent, or employee of the 6
legislative branch of state government. 7
(2) Violation of this section by a legislator or legislative agent is ethical misconduct. 8
SECTION 2. A NEW SECTION OF KRS 6.601 TO 6.849 IS CREATED TO 9
READ AS FOLLOWS: 10
As used in Sections 1 and 2 of this Act: 11
(1) "Discrimination" means any direct or indirect act or practice of exclusion, 12
distinction, restriction, segregation, limitation, refusal, denial, or any other act or 13
practice of differentiation or preference in treatment of any person, or the aiding, 14
abetting, inciting, coercing, or compelling that is unlawful under KRS Chapter 15
344, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, state or federal case law, or 16
enforced in policy or regulation by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity 17
Commission or the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights; and 18
(2) (a) "Sexual harassment" means any sexual advance, request for sexual favors, 19
or other verbal or physical conduct or communication of a sexual nature if: 20
1. Submission to the advances, requests, conduct, or communication is 21
an explicit or implicit term or condition of obtaining or retaining 22
employment; 23
2. Submission to or rejection of the advances, requests, conduct, or 24
communication affects decisions concerning a person's employment; 25
3. The conduct or communication has the purpose or effect of 26
unreasonably interfering with a person's ability to perform his or her 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 8
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job functions or of creating a hostile work environment; or 1
4. The conduct or communication is sexual harassment as described in 2
KRS Chapter 344, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, state or 3
federal case law, or enforced in policy or regulation by the federal 4
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Kentucky 5
Commission on Human Rights. 6
(b) "Sexual harassment" includes such conduct or communication as: 7
1. Unwanted sexual contact or conduct of any kind, including sexual 8
flirtations, touching, advances, actions, propositions, intercourse, or 9
assault; 10
2. Unwelcome verbal communication of a sexual nature, including lewd 11
comments or innuendo, sexual jokes or references, or offensive 12
personal references; 13
3. Sexually demeaning, insulting, intimidating, or suggestive comments 14
or behavior directed at a person or in the presence of any person in a 15
public or private setting; 16
4. The display in the workplace of sexually demeaning, insulting, 17
intimidating, or suggestive objects, pictures, or photographs; 18
5. Sexually demeaning, insulting, intimidating, or suggestive written, 19
recorded, or electronically transmitted messages; or 20
6. Other sexual conduct or communication not specifically described but 21
which is substantially similar to the conduct or communication 22
described in this subsection. 23
(c) A single incident described in this subsection may constitute sexual 24
harassment, if it is linked to an employment benefit or is severe. 25
(d) A copy of the complaint of discrimination or sexual harassment filed by an 26
employee of the legislative branch of state government shall be transmitted 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 22 RS BR 8
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by the executive director of the commission or his or her designee to the 1
chief human resources officer of the Legislative Research Commission no 2
later than one (1) business day after receipt of the complaint. 3