89R15475 DNC-D
By: Reynolds H.B. No. 4245
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to compensatory and punitive damage limits in employment
discrimination claims.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.2585, Labor Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (d-1) to read as
follows:
(d) Subject to Subsection (d-1), the [The] sum of the amount
of compensatory damages awarded under this section for future
pecuniary losses, emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental
anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other nonpecuniary losses
and the amount of punitive damages awarded under this section may
not exceed, for each complainant:
(1) $50,000 in the case of a respondent that has fewer
than 101 employees;
(2) $100,000 in the case of a respondent that has more
than 100 and fewer than 201 employees;
(3) $200,000 in the case of a respondent that has more
than 200 and fewer than 501 employees; and
(4) $300,000 in the case of a respondent that has more
than 500 employees.
(d-1) When the consumer price index increases with respect
to the amount of that index on September 1, 2025, the limits on
damages prescribed by Subsection (d) shall be increased by a sum
equal to the amount of such limit multiplied by the percentage
increase in the consumer price index, as published by the Bureau of
Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, that
measures the average changes in prices of goods and services
purchased by urban wage earners and clerical workers' families
(CPI-W: Seasonally Adjusted U.S. City Average--All Items),
between September 1, 2025, and the time at which damages subject to
such limits are awarded by final judgment or settlement.
SECTION 2. Section 21.2585(d-1), Labor Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to a complaint in relation to an unlawful
employment practice that occurs on or after the effective date of
this Act. A complaint in relation to an unlawful employment
practice that occurs before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the unlawful employment
practice occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.