By: Thompson of Harris, Collier, Harless H.B. No. 1151
(Senate Sponsor - Garcia)
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 20, 2015;
May 6, 2015, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural
Resources and Economic Development; May 22, 2015, reported
favorably by the following vote: Yeas 11, Nays 0; May 22, 2015,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to sexual harassment protection for unpaid interns.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 21, Labor Code, is amended
by adding Section 21.1065 to read as follows:
Sec. 21.1065. SEXUAL HARASSMENT PROTECTIONS FOR UNPAID
INTERNS. (a) In this section, "sexual harassment" means an
unwelcome sexual advance, a request for a sexual favor, or any other
verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature if:
(1) submission to the advance, request, or conduct is
made a term or condition of an individual's internship, either
explicitly or implicitly;
(2) submission to or rejection of the advance,
request, or conduct by an individual is used as the basis for a
decision affecting the individual's internship;
(3) the advance, request, or conduct has the purpose
or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work
performance at the individual's internship; or
(4) the advance, request, or conduct has the purpose
or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive
working environment.
(b) An employer commits an unlawful employment practice if
sexual harassment of an unpaid intern occurs and the employer or the
employer's agents or supervisors:
(1) know or should have known that the conduct
constituting sexual harassment was occurring; and
(2) fail to take immediate and appropriate corrective
action.
(c) In this section, an individual is considered to be an
unpaid intern of an employer if:
(1) the individual's internship, even though it
includes engagement in the employer's operations or the performance
of productive work for the employer, is similar to training that
would be given in an educational environment;
(2) the individual's internship experience is for the
individual's benefit;
(3) the individual does not displace the employer's
regular employees but works under close supervision of the
employer's existing staff;
(4) the employer does not derive any immediate
advantage from the individual's internship activities and on
occasion the employer's operations may be impeded by those
activities;
(5) the individual is not entitled to a job at the
conclusion of the internship; and
(6) the individual is not entitled to wages for the
time spent in the internship.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a claim of discrimination based on conduct that occurs on or
after the effective date of this Act. A claim of discrimination
that is based on conduct that occurs before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the conduct
occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
* * * * *