Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1527 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	86R7646 LED-D
2	2	By: Neave H.B. No. 1527
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to an employee's liability for sexual harassment.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 21.002(13), Labor Code, is amended to
10	10	read as follows:
11	11	(13) "Respondent" means the person charged in a
12	12	complaint filed under this chapter and may include an employer,
13	13	employee, employment agency, labor organization, or joint
14	14	labor-management committee that controls an apprenticeship or
15	15	other training or retraining program, including an on-the-job
16	16	training program.
17	17	SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 21, Labor Code, is amended
18	18	by adding Section 21.062 to read as follows:
19	19	Sec. 21.062. DISCRIMINATION BY EMPLOYEE. (a) In this
20	20	section, "sexual harassment" means an unwelcome sexual advance, a
21	21	request for a sexual favor, or any other verbal or physical conduct
22	22	of a sexual nature if:
23	23	(1) submission to the advance, request, or conduct is
24	24	made a term or condition of an individual's employment, either
25	25	explicitly or implicitly;
26	26	(2) submission to or rejection of the advance,
27	27	request, or conduct by an individual is used as the basis for a
28	28	decision affecting the individual's employment;
29	29	(3) the advance, request, or conduct has the purpose
30	30	or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual's work
31	31	performance; or
32	32	(4) the advance, request, or conduct has the purpose
33	33	or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive
34	34	working environment.
35	35	(b) An employee commits an unlawful employment practice if
36	36	the employee engages in sexual harassment of another employee.
37	37	SECTION 3. Section 21.2585, Labor Code, is amended by
38	38	amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (f) to read as
39	39	follows:
40	40	(d) Except as provided by Subsection (f), the [The] sum of
41	41	the amount of compensatory damages awarded under this section for
42	42	future pecuniary losses, emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience,
43	43	mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other nonpecuniary
44	44	losses and the amount of punitive damages awarded under this
45	45	section may not exceed, for each complainant:
46	46	(1) $50,000 in the case of a respondent that has fewer
47	47	than 101 employees;
48	48	(2) $100,000 in the case of a respondent that has more
49	49	than 100 and fewer than 201 employees;
50	50	(3) $200,000 in the case of a respondent that has more
51	51	than 200 and fewer than 501 employees; and
52	52	(4) $300,000 in the case of a respondent that has more
53	53	than 500 employees.
54	54	(f) Subsection (d) does not apply to damages awarded against
55	55	an employee.
56	56	SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act applies only
57	57	to a cause of action that accrues on or after the effective date of
58	58	this Act. A cause of action that accrued before the effective date
59	59	of this Act is governed by the law applicable to the cause of action
60	60	immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is
61	61	continued in effect for that purpose.
62	62	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.