UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1849
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AN ACT relating to legislative ethics. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
ď˘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 intentionally engage in sexual 5
harassment of any legislator, legislative agent, or employee of the legislative 6
branch of state government. 7
(2) Violation of subsection (1) of this section by a legislator or legislative agent is 8
ethical misconduct. 9
(3) As used in this section, "sexual harassment": 10
(a) Means any sexual advance, request for sexual favors, or other verbal or 11
physical conduct or communication of a sexual nature if: 12
1. Submission to the advances, requests, conduct, or communication is 13
an explicit or implicit term or condition of obtaining or retaining 14
employment; 15
2. Submission to or the rejection of advances, requests, conduct, or 16
communication affects decisions concerning a person's employment; 17
3. The conduct or communication has the purpose or the effect of: 18
a. Unreasonably interfering with the person's ability to perform his 19
or her job functions; or 20
b. Creating a hostile work environment; or 21
c. The conduct or communication is sexual harassment as defined 22
in: 23
i. KRS Chapter 344; 24
ii. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; 25
iii. State or federal case law; 26
iv. A policy or regulation enforced by the federal Equal 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS BR 1849
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Employment Opportunity Commission; or 1
v. A policy or regulation enforced by the Kentucky 2
Commission on Human Rights; 3
(b) Includes but is not limited to the following conduct or communication: 4
1. Unwanted sexual contact or conduct of any kind, including sexual 5
flirtations, touching, advances, actions, propositions, intercourse, or 6
assault; 7
2. Unwelcome verbal communication of a sexual nature, including lewd 8
comments or innuendo, sexual jokes or references, or offensive 9
references; 10
3. Demeaning, insulting, intimidating, or sexually suggestive comments 11
or behavior directed at a person or in the presence of any person in a 12
public or private setting; 13
4. The display in the workplace of demeaning, insulting, intimidating, or 14
sexually suggestive objects, pictures, or photographs; 15
5. Demeaning, insulting, intimidating, or sexually suggestive written, 16
recorded, or electronically transmitted messages; or 17
6. Other conduct or communication not specifically described but which 18
is substantially similar to the conduct or communication described in 19
this subsection; and 20
(c) Includes a single incident described in this subsection if it is linked to an 21
employment benefit or is severe. 22