86R1840 JSC-D
By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 46
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prohibition against sexual harassment in the
workplace.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 21, Labor Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter C-1, and a heading is added to that subchapter to read as
follows:
SUBCHAPTER C-1. SEXUAL HARASSMENT
SECTION 2. Section 21.1065, Labor Code, is transferred to
Subchapter C-1, Chapter 21, Labor Code, as added by this Act,
redesignated as Sections 21.141, 21.142, and 21.143, Labor Code,
and amended to read as follows:
Sec. 21.141. DEFINITIONS. [21.1065. SEXUAL HARASSMENT
PROTECTIONS FOR UNPAID INTERNS. (a)] In this subchapter:
(1) "Employer" means a person who:
(A) employs one or more employees; or
(B) acts directly or indirectly in the interests
of an employer in relation to an employee.
(2) "Sexual [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:
(A) [(1)] submission to the advance, request, or
conduct is made a term or condition of an individual's employment or
internship, either explicitly or implicitly;
(B) [(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 employment or internship;
(C) [(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
(D) [(4)] the advance, request, or conduct has
the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, or
offensive working environment.
Sec. 21.142. UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE. [(b)] An
employer commits an unlawful employment practice if sexual
harassment of an employee or 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.
Sec. 21.143. UNPAID INTERNS. [(c)] In this subchapter
[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 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a claim based on conduct that occurs on or after the effective
date of this Act. A claim 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 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.