Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1354 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 1354
5	5	To amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to clarify that disparate impacts
6	6	on certain populations constitute a sufficient basis for rights of action
7	7	under such Act, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	FEBRUARY13, 2025
10	10	Ms. T
11	11	LAIB(for herself, Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. LEEof Pennsylvania, Mr. JOHN-
12	12	SONof Georgia, Mr. GARCI´Aof Illinois, Ms. NORTON, Ms. KAMLAGER-
13	13	D
14	14	OVE, Mrs. MCIVER, Mr. FROST, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. JACK-
15	15	SONof Illinois, Mrs. RAMIREZ, and Mr. MFUME) introduced the following
16	16	bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addi-
17	17	tion to the Committee on Education and Workforce, for a period to be
18	18	subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
19	19	of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con-
20	20	cerned
21	21	A BILL
22	22	To amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to clarify that dis-
23	23	parate impacts on certain populations constitute a suffi-
24	24	cient basis for rights of action under such Act, and
25	25	for other purposes.
26	26	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
27	27	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
28	28	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
29	29	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Justice for All Act 4
30	30	of 2025’’. 5
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33	33	•HR 1354 IH
34	34	SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1
35	35	Congress finds the following: 2
36	36	(1) This Act is made necessary by a decision of 3
37	37	the Supreme Court in Alexander v. Sandoval, 532 4
38	38	U.S. 275 (2001) that significantly impairs statutory 5
39	39	protections against discrimination that Congress has 6
40	40	erected over a period of almost 4 decades. The 7
41	41	Sandoval decision undermines these statutory pro-8
42	42	tections by stripping victims of discrimination (de-9
43	43	fined under regulations that Congress required Fed-10
44	44	eral departments and agencies to promulgate to im-11
45	45	plement title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 12
46	46	U.S.C. 2000d et seq.)) of the right to bring action 13
47	47	in Federal court to redress the discrimination. 14
48	48	(2) The Sandoval decision contradicts settled 15
49	49	expectations created by title VI of the Civil Rights 16
50	50	Act of 1964, title IX of the Education Amendments 17
51	51	of 1972 (also known as the ‘‘Patsy Takemoto Mink 18
52	52	Equal Opportunity in Education Act’’) (20 U.S.C. 19
53	53	1681 et seq.), the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 20
54	54	(42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.), and section 504 of the Re-21
55	55	habilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) (collec-22
56	56	tively referred to in this Act as the ‘‘covered civil 23
57	57	rights provisions’’). The covered civil rights provi-24
58	58	sions were designed to establish and make effective 25
59	59	the rights of persons to be free from discrimination 26
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62	62	•HR 1354 IH
63	63	on the part of entities that are subject to 1 or more 1
64	64	of the covered civil rights provisions, as appropriate 2
65	65	(referred to in this Act as ‘‘covered entities’’). In 3
66	66	1964 Congress adopted title VI of the Civil Rights 4
67	67	Act of 1964 to ensure that Federal dollars would not 5
68	68	be used to subsidize or support programs or activi-6
69	69	ties that discriminated on racial, color, or national 7
70	70	origin grounds. In the years that followed, Congress 8
71	71	extended these protections by enacting laws barring 9
72	72	discrimination in federally funded education activi-10
73	73	ties on the basis of sex in title IX of the Education 11
74	74	Amendments of 1972, and discrimination in feder-12
75	75	ally funded activities on the basis of age in the Age 13
76	76	Discrimination Act of 1975 and disability in section 14
77	77	504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. 15
78	78	(3) All of the statutes cited in this section were 16
79	79	designed to protect persons subject to discrimina-17
80	80	tion. As Congress has consistently recognized, effec-18
81	81	tive enforcement of the statutes and protection of 19
82	82	the rights guaranteed under the statutes depend 20
83	83	heavily on the efforts of private attorneys general. 21
84	84	Congress acknowledged that it could not secure com-22
85	85	pliance solely through administrative efforts and en-23
86	86	forcement actions initiated by the Attorney General. 24
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89	89	•HR 1354 IH
90	90	Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises, 390 U.S. 400 1
91	91	(1968) (per curiam). 2
92	92	(4) The Supreme Court has made it clear that 3
93	93	individuals suffering discrimination under these stat-4
94	94	utes have a private right of action in the Federal 5
95	95	courts, and that this is necessary for effective pro-6
96	96	tection of the law, although Congress did not make 7
97	97	such a right of action explicit in the statute involved. 8
98	98	Cannon v. University of Chicago, 441 U.S. 677 9
99	99	(1979). 10
100	100	(5) Furthermore, for effective enforcement of 11
101	101	the statutes cited in this section, it is necessary that 12
102	102	the private right of action include a means to chal-13
103	103	lenge all forms of discrimination that are prohibited 14
104	104	by the statutes, including practices that have a dis-15
105	105	parate impact and are not justified as necessary to 16
106	106	achieve the legitimate goals of programs or activities 17
107	107	supported by Federal financial assistance. 18
108	108	(6) By reinstating a private right of action to 19
109	109	challenge disparate impact discrimination under title 20
110	110	VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d 21
111	111	et seq.) and confirming that right for other civil 22
112	112	rights statutes, Congress is not acting in a manner 23
113	113	that would expose covered entities to unfair findings 24
114	114	of discrimination. The legal standard for a disparate 25
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117	117	•HR 1354 IH
118	118	impact claim has never been structured so that a 1
119	119	finding of discrimination could be based on numer-2
120	120	ical imbalance alone. 3
121	121	(7) In contrast, a failure to reinstate or confirm 4
122	122	a private right of action would leave vindication of 5
123	123	the rights to equality of opportunity solely to Fed-6
124	124	eral agencies. Action by Congress to specify a pri-7
125	125	vate right of action is necessary to ensure that per-8
126	126	sons will have a remedy if they are denied equal ac-9
127	127	cess to education, housing, health, environmental 10
128	128	protection, transportation, and many other programs 11
129	129	and services by practices of covered entities that re-12
130	130	sult in discrimination. 13
131	131	(8) As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision 14
132	132	in Sandoval, courts have dismissed numerous claims 15
133	133	brought under the regulations promulgated pursuant 16
134	134	to title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 17
135	135	U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) that challenged actions with 18
136	136	an unjustified discriminatory effect. Although the 19
137	137	Sandoval Court did not address title IX of the Edu-20
138	138	cation Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et 21
139	139	seq.), lower courts have similarly dismissed claims 22
140	140	under such title. 23
141	141	(9) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 24
142	142	1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) has received different treat-25
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145	145	•HR 1354 IH
146	146	ment by the Supreme Court. In Alexander v. Choate, 1
147	147	469 U.S. 287 (1985), the Court proceeded on the 2
148	148	assumption that the statute itself prohibited some 3
149	149	actions that had a disparate impact on disabled indi-4
150	150	viduals—an assumption borne out by congressional 5
151	151	statements made during passage of the Act. In 6
152	152	Sandoval, the Court appeared to accept this prin-7
153	153	ciple of Alexander. Moreover, the Supreme Court ex-8
154	154	plicitly recognized congressional approval of the reg-9
155	155	ulations promulgated to implement section 504 of 10
156	156	the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 in Consolidated Rail 11
157	157	Corp. v. Darrone, 465 U.S. 624, 634 (1984). Rely-12
158	158	ing on the validity of the regulations, Congress in-13
159	159	corporated the regulations into the statutory require-14
160	160	ments of section 204 of the Americans with Disabil-15
161	161	ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12134). Nonetheless, 16
162	162	Sandoval creates the potential for uncertainty in the 17
163	163	application of critical protections of Section 504, 18
164	164	particularly in the lower courts. 19
165	165	(10) The right to maintain a private right of 20
166	166	action under a provision added to a statute under 21
167	167	this Act will be effectuated by a waiver of sovereign 22
168	168	immunity in the same manner as sovereign immu-23
169	169	nity is waived under the remaining provisions of that 24
170	170	statute. 25
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173	173	•HR 1354 IH
174	174	(11) Numerous provisions of Federal law ex-1
175	175	pressly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, 2
176	176	and Federal agencies and courts have correctly in-3
177	177	terpreted these prohibitions on sex discrimination to 4
178	178	include discrimination based on sexual orientation, 5
179	179	gender identity, and sex stereotypes. In particular, 6
180	180	the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 7
181	181	correctly interpreted title VII of the Civil Rights Act 8
182	182	of 1964 in Macy v. Holder, Baldwin v. Foxx, and 9
183	183	Lusardi v. McHugh. 10
184	184	(12) In forbidding discrimination based on sex, 11
185	185	Congress intended to strike at the entire spectrum 12
186	186	of disparate treatment resulting from sex-related 13
187	187	characteristics. The Supreme Court correctly recog-14
188	188	nized in Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins and Oncale v. 15
189	189	Sundowner Offshore Services that among these char-16
190	190	acteristics are sex-stereotypes, including masculinity 17
191	191	and femininity. Congress reaffirmed in the Preg-18
192	192	nancy Discrimination Act of 1978 that discrimina-19
193	193	tion on the basis of ‘‘sex’’ includes but is not limited 20
194	194	to discrimination on the basis of ‘‘pregnancy, child-21
195	195	birth, or related medical conditions.’’. 22
196	196	(13) The absence of explicit prohibitions of dis-23
197	197	crimination on the basis of sexual orientation and 24
198	198	gender identity under Federal statutory law has cre-25
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201	201	•HR 1354 IH
202	202	ated uncertainty for employers and other entities 1
203	203	covered by Federal nondiscrimination laws and 2
204	204	caused unnecessary hardships for LGBTQ individ-3
205	205	uals. 4
206	206	(14) The Supreme Court correctly recognized in 5
207	207	Hobby Lobby v. Burwell that the Religious Freedom 6
208	208	Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) ‘‘provides no . . . 7
209	209	shield’’ to those who ‘‘cloak’’ discrimination as ‘‘reli-8
210	210	gious practice to escape legal sanction.’’ This Act re-9
211	211	affirms that crucial limitation on RFRA, that Con-10
212	212	gress did not intend for it to be used—and indeed 11
213	213	it cannot be used—to provide a defense against alle-12
214	214	gations of discrimination on the basis of any pro-13
215	215	tected trait. 14
216	216	(15) Chapter 1 of title 9, United States Code 15
217	217	(commonly known as the ‘‘Federal Arbitration 16
218	218	Act’’), represented an exercise of legislative power 17
219	219	that required courts to recognize private voluntary 18
220	220	agreements to arbitrate commercial disputes at a 19
221	221	time when the courts were refusing to do so on 20
222	222	grounds that arbitration represented a usurpation of 21
223	223	the authority of the courts to resolve legal disputes. 22
224	224	(16) The Federal Arbitration Act did not, and 23
225	225	should not have been interpreted to, supplant or nul-24
226	226	lify the legislatively created rights and remedies that 25
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229	229	•HR 1354 IH
230	230	Congress, exercising its power under article I of the 1
231	231	Constitution of the United States, has granted to 2
232	232	the people of the United States for resolving dis-3
233	233	putes in State and Federal courts. 4
234	234	(17) Recent court decisions, including AT&T 5
235	235	Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, 563 U.S. 333 (2011) 6
236	236	and American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Res-7
237	237	taurant, 133 S. Ct. 2304 (2013), have interpreted 8
238	238	the Federal Arbitration Act to broadly preempt 9
239	239	rights and remedies established under substantive 10
240	240	State and Federal law. As a result, these decisions 11
241	241	have enabled business entities to avoid or nullify 12
242	242	legal duties created by congressional enactment, re-13
243	243	sulting in millions of people in the United States 14
244	244	being unable to vindicate their rights in State and 15
245	245	Federal courts. 16
246	246	(18) States have a compelling interest in enact-17
247	247	ing rights and remedies to protect the welfare of 18
248	248	their citizens, and the Federal Arbitration Act 19
249	249	should not be, and should not have been, interpreted 20
250	250	to preempt State legislation that enacted rights and 21
251	251	remedies to protect the welfare of their citizens. 22
252	252	(19) The Supreme Court misinterpreted title 23
253	253	VII of the Civil Rights Act in establishing the 24
254	254	Faragher-Ellerth affirmative defense in Faragher v. 25
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257	257	•HR 1354 IH
258	258	City of Boca Raton and Burlington Industries, Inc. 1
259	259	v. Ellerth. This affirmative defense often leaves vic-2
260	260	tims of sexual harassment with no remedy or re-3
261	261	course after incidence of sexual or other harassment. 4
262	262	Violations of the law, and injuries to a victim and 5
263	263	their rights, are not cured by the existence of an 6
264	264	anti-harassment policy or the lack of future harm, 7
265	265	and in a hostile work environment taking preventa-8
266	266	tive measures is not a requirement that falls on the 9
267	267	victim. 10
268	268	(20) Bringing a lawsuit to vindicate civil rights 11
269	269	is financially risky, and law firms, whether large or 12
270	270	small, are unlikely to take such cases on. Congress 13
271	271	enacted the Civil Rights Attorney’s Fees Award Act 14
272	272	of 1976 in order to make lawsuits to vindicate civil 15
273	273	rights more accessible to potential plaintiffs. The 16
274	274	Supreme Court correctly recognized in City of River-17
275	275	side v. Rivera that the effectuation of congressional 18
276	276	intent requires viable civil rights lawsuits, which are 19
277	277	dependent on the availability of private enforcement 20
278	278	mechanisms and the corresponding availability of at-21
279	279	torney’s fees. 22
280	280	(21) However, the Supreme Court incorrectly 23
281	281	held that the ‘‘catalyst theory’’ is not a permissible 24
282	282	basis for the award of attorney’s fees in Buckhannon 25
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285	285	•HR 1354 IH
286	286	v. West Virginia Department of Health & Human 1
287	287	Resources. In doing so, the Court deprived plaintiffs 2
288	288	who effectively win a lawsuit through a settlement, 3
289	289	from receiving pre-trial attorney’s fees. Congress en-4
290	290	acted fee-shifting provisions in civil rights laws to 5
291	291	encourage private enforcement of those laws, and 6
292	292	fees must be awarded when a lawsuit vindicates the 7
293	293	rights Congress sought to secure. In disapproving of 8
294	294	the ‘‘catalyst theory’’ the Court incentivized poten-9
295	295	tial defendants to draw out the pre-trial process and 10
296	296	settle at the last second, making the lawsuit too ex-11
297	297	pensive for the average victim to undertake and too 12
298	298	risky for the average attorney to accept a civil rights 13
299	299	case. 14
300	300	(22) The Civil Rights Act of 1964, and other 15
301	301	civil rights laws that followed it, were written, in 16
302	302	part, to banish rampant disparate treatment on the 17
303	303	basis of race from American society. Congress 18
304	304	sought to overcome the pervasive, racist ideology 19
305	305	that Black traits were inferior by prohibiting dis-20
306	306	crimination, and intended the Act to be interpreted 21
307	307	broadly—encompassing race and all its attributes, 22
308	308	especially those traits historically associated with 23
309	309	race. 24
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312	312	•HR 1354 IH
313	313	(23) ‘‘Blackness’’ and its associated physical 1
314	314	traits, such as dark skin and kinky and curly hair, 2
315	315	have too often been equated with inferiority and 3
316	316	‘‘unprofessionalism.’’ Professionalism was, and still 4
317	317	is, closely linked to European features and manner-5
318	318	isms, which entails that those who do not naturally 6
319	319	fall into Eurocentric norms must alter their appear-7
320	320	ances, sometimes drastically and permanently, in 8
321	321	order to be deemed professional. Such norms are, on 9
322	322	their face, proxies for race. 10
323	323	(24) Federal courts have correctly interpreted, 11
324	324	e.g. that title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 12
325	325	prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, and 13
326	326	thus protect individuals from discrimination against 14
327	327	afros. However, the courts have yet to accept that 15
328	328	the Act outlaws dress codes and grooming policies 16
329	329	that prohibit any natural presentation of Black hair, 17
330	330	including afros, braids, twists, and locks. Although 18
331	331	purportedly ‘‘race-neutral’’, these policies have a dis-19
332	332	parate impact on Black individuals as they are more 20
333	333	likely to deter, burden, or punish Black individuals 21
334	334	than any other group. Therefore, hair discrimination 22
335	335	targeting hairstyles associated with race is racial dis-23
336	336	crimination. 24
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339	339	•HR 1354 IH
340	340	SEC. 3. PROHIBITED DISCRIMINATION. 1
341	341	(a) C
342	342	IVILRIGHTSACT OF1964.—Section 601 of the 2
343	343	Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d) is amended— 3
344	344	(1) by striking ‘‘No’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) No’’; 4
345	345	(2) by inserting ‘‘religion, sex (as such term is 5
346	346	defined in section 208),’’ before ‘‘or national origin’’; 6
347	347	and 7
348	348	(3) by adding at the end the following: 8
349	349	‘‘(b)(1)(A) Discrimination (including exclusion from 9
350	350	participation and denial of benefits) based on disparate 10
351	351	impact is established under this title only if— 11
352	352	‘‘(i) a person aggrieved by discrimination on the 12
353	353	basis of race, color, sex (as defined in section 208), 13
354	354	or national origin (referred to in this title as an ‘per-14
355	355	son aggrieved’ demonstrates that an entity subject 15
356	356	to this title (referred to in this title as a ‘covered en-16
357	357	tity’) has a policy or practice that causes a disparate 17
358	358	impact on the basis of race, color, sex (as such term 18
359	359	is defined in section 208), or national origin and the 19
360	360	covered entity fails to demonstrate that the chal-20
361	361	lenged policy or practice is related to and necessary 21
362	362	to achieve the nondiscriminatory goals of the pro-22
363	363	gram or activity alleged to have been operated in a 23
364	364	discriminatory manner; or 24
365	365	‘‘(ii) the person aggrieved demonstrates (con-25
366	366	sistent with the demonstration required under title 26
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369	369	•HR 1354 IH
370	370	VII with respect to an ‘alternative employment prac-1
371	371	tice’) that a less discriminatory alternative policy or 2
372	372	practice exists, and the covered entity refuses to 3
373	373	adopt such alternative policy or practice. 4
374	374	‘‘(B)(i) With respect to demonstrating that a par-5
375	375	ticular policy or practice causes a disparate impact as de-6
376	376	scribed in subparagraph (A)(i), the person aggrieved shall 7
377	377	demonstrate that each particular challenged policy or 8
378	378	practice causes a disparate impact, except that if the per-9
379	379	son aggrieved demonstrates to the court that the elements 10
380	380	of a covered entity’s decisionmaking process are not capa-11
381	381	ble of separation for analysis, the decisionmaking process 12
382	382	may be analyzed as 1 policy or practice. 13
383	383	‘‘(ii) If the covered entity demonstrates that a specific 14
384	384	policy or practice does not cause the disparate impact, the 15
385	385	covered entity shall not be required to demonstrate that 16
386	386	such policy or practice is necessary to achieve the goals 17
387	387	of its program or activity. 18
388	388	‘‘(2) A demonstration that a policy or practice is nec-19
389	389	essary to achieve the goals of a program or activity may 20
390	390	not be used as a defense against a claim of intentional 21
391	391	discrimination under this title. 22
392	392	‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘demonstrates’ 23
393	393	means meets the burdens of production and persuasion.’’. 24
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396	396	•HR 1354 IH
397	397	(b) EDUCATIONAMENDMENTS OF 1972.—Section 1
398	398	901 of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 2
399	399	1681) is amended— 3
400	400	(1) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub-4
401	401	section (d); and 5
402	402	(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol-6
403	403	lowing: 7
404	404	‘‘(c)(1)(A) Subject to the conditions described in 8
405	405	paragraphs (1) through (9) of subsection (a), discrimina-9
406	406	tion (including exclusion from participation and denial of 10
407	407	benefits) based on disparate impact is established under 11
408	408	this title only if— 12
409	409	‘‘(i) a person aggrieved by discrimination on the 13
410	410	basis of sex (as such term is defined in section 208 14
411	411	of the Civil Rights Act of 1964) (referred to in this 15
412	412	title as an ‘person aggrieved’) demonstrates that an 16
413	413	entity subject to this title (referred to in this title as 17
414	414	a ‘covered entity’) has a policy or practice that 18
415	415	causes a disparate impact on the basis of sex and 19
416	416	the covered entity fails to demonstrate that the chal-20
417	417	lenged policy or practice is related to and necessary 21
418	418	to achieve the nondiscriminatory goals of the pro-22
419	419	gram or activity alleged to have been operated in a 23
420	420	discriminatory manner; or 24
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423	423	•HR 1354 IH
424	424	‘‘(ii) the person aggrieved demonstrates (con-1
425	425	sistent with the demonstration required under title 2
426	426	VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 3
427	427	2000e et seq.) with respect to an ‘alternative em-4
428	428	ployment practice’) that a less discriminatory alter-5
429	429	native policy or practice exists, and the covered enti-6
430	430	ty refuses to adopt such alternative policy or prac-7
431	431	tice. 8
432	432	‘‘(B)(i) With respect to demonstrating that a par-9
433	433	ticular policy or practice causes a disparate impact as de-10
434	434	scribed in subparagraph (A)(i), the person aggrieved shall 11
435	435	demonstrate that each particular challenged policy or 12
436	436	practice causes a disparate impact, except that if the per-13
437	437	son aggrieved demonstrates to the court that the elements 14
438	438	of a covered entity’s decisionmaking process are not capa-15
439	439	ble of separation for analysis, the decisionmaking process 16
440	440	may be analyzed as 1 policy or practice. 17
441	441	‘‘(ii) If the covered entity demonstrates that a specific 18
442	442	policy or practice does not cause the disparate impact, the 19
443	443	covered entity shall not be required to demonstrate that 20
444	444	such policy or practice is necessary to achieve the goals 21
445	445	of its program or activity. 22
446	446	‘‘(2) A demonstration that a policy or practice is nec-23
447	447	essary to achieve the goals of a program or activity may 24
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450	450	•HR 1354 IH
451	451	not be used as a defense against a claim of intentional 1
452	452	discrimination under this title. 2
453	453	‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘demonstrates’ 3
454	454	means meets the burdens of production and persuasion.’’. 4
455	455	(c) A
456	456	GEDISCRIMINATIONACT OF1975.—Section 5
457	457	303 of the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 (42 U.S.C. 6
458	458	6102) is amended— 7
459	459	(1) by striking ‘‘Pursuant’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) 8
460	460	Pursuant’’; and 9
461	461	(2) by adding at the end the following: 10
462	462	‘‘(b)(1)(A) Subject to the conditions described in sub-11
463	463	sections (b) and (c) of section 304, discrimination (includ-12
464	464	ing exclusion from participation and denial of benefits) 13
465	465	based on disparate impact is established under this title 14
466	466	only if— 15
467	467	‘‘(i) a person aggrieved by discrimination on the 16
468	468	basis of age (referred to in this title as a ‘person ag-17
469	469	grieved’) demonstrates that an entity subject to this 18
470	470	title (referred to in this title as a ‘covered entity’) 19
471	471	has a policy or practice that causes a disparate im-20
472	472	pact on the basis of age and the covered entity fails 21
473	473	to demonstrate that the challenged policy or practice 22
474	474	is related to and necessary to achieve the non-23
475	475	discriminatory goals of the program or activity al-24
476	476	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1354.IH H1354
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478	478	•HR 1354 IH
479	479	leged to have been operated in a discriminatory 1
480	480	manner; or 2
481	481	‘‘(ii) the person aggrieved demonstrates (con-3
482	482	sistent with the demonstration required under title 4
483	483	VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 5
484	484	2000e et seq.) with respect to an ‘alternative em-6
485	485	ployment practice’) that a less discriminatory alter-7
486	486	native policy or practice exists, and the covered enti-8
487	487	ty refuses to adopt such alternative policy or prac-9
488	488	tice. 10
489	489	‘‘(B)(i) With respect to demonstrating that a par-11
490	490	ticular policy or practice causes a disparate impact as de-12
491	491	scribed in subparagraph (A)(i), the person aggrieved shall 13
492	492	demonstrate that each particular challenged policy or 14
493	493	practice causes a disparate impact, except that if the per-15
494	494	son aggrieved demonstrates to the court that the elements 16
495	495	of a covered entity’s decisionmaking process are not capa-17
496	496	ble of separation for analysis, the decisionmaking process 18
497	497	may be analyzed as 1 policy or practice. 19
498	498	‘‘(ii) If the covered entity demonstrates that a specific 20
499	499	policy or practice does not cause the disparate impact, the 21
500	500	covered entity shall not be required to demonstrate that 22
501	501	such policy or practice is necessary to achieve the goals 23
502	502	of its program or activity. 24
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505	505	•HR 1354 IH
506	506	‘‘(2) A demonstration that a policy or practice is nec-1
507	507	essary to achieve the goals of a program or activity may 2
508	508	not be used as a defense against a claim of intentional 3
509	509	discrimination under this title. 4
510	510	‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘demonstrates’ 5
511	511	means meets the burdens of production and persuasion.’’. 6
512	512	(d) F
513	513	AIRHOUSINGACT.—The Fair Housing Act 7
514	514	(title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968; 42 U.S.C. 3601 8
515	515	et seq.) is amended— 9
516	516	(1) in section 802, by adding at the end the fol-10
517	517	lowing: 11
518	518	‘‘(p) ‘Sex’ has the meaning given such term in section 12
519	519	208 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 13
520	520	‘‘(q) ‘Source of income’ includes— 14
521	521	‘‘(1) any income from a profession, occupation, 15
522	522	or job; 16
523	523	‘‘(2) any form of Federal, State, or local hous-17
524	524	ing assistance provided to a family or provided to a 18
525	525	housing owner on behalf of a family, or private as-19
526	526	sistance, grant, loan or rental assistance program, 20
527	527	including low-income housing assistance certificates, 21
528	528	rental subsidies from nongovernmental organiza-22
529	529	tions, and vouchers issued under the United States 23
530	530	Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.); 24
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533	533	•HR 1354 IH
534	534	‘‘(3) any income received during a taxable year 1
535	535	as Social Security benefits, as defined in section 2
536	536	86(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or as 3
537	537	supplemental security income benefits under title 4
538	538	XVI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et 5
539	539	seq.); 6
540	540	‘‘(4) any gift, inheritance, pension, annuity, or 7
541	541	other consideration or benefit; 8
542	542	‘‘(5) any income received pursuant to court 9
543	543	order, including spousal support and child support; 10
544	544	‘‘(6) any payment from a trust, guardian, or 11
545	545	conservator; 12
546	546	‘‘(7) any income from the sale or pledge of 13
547	547	property or an interest in property; and 14
548	548	‘‘(8) any other lawful source of income. 15
549	549	‘‘(r) ‘Race’, ‘color’, ‘religion’, ‘sex’, ‘sexual orienta-16
550	550	tion’, ‘gender identity’, ‘handicap’, ‘familial status’, 17
551	551	‘source of income’, or ‘national origin’, used with respect 18
552	552	to an individual, includes— 19
553	553	‘‘(1) the race, color, religion, sex, sexual ori-20
554	554	entation, gender identity, handicap, familial status, 21
555	555	source of income, or national origin, respectively, of 22
556	556	another person with whom the individual is associ-23
557	557	ated or has been associated; and 24
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560	560	•HR 1354 IH
561	561	‘‘(2) a perception or belief, even if inaccurate, 1
562	562	concerning the race, color, religion, sex, sexual ori-2
563	563	entation, gender identity, handicap, familial status, 3
564	564	source of income, or national origin, respectively, of 4
565	565	the individual.’’; 5
566	566	(2) in section 804, by inserting ‘‘(as defined in 6
567	567	section 208 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), source 7
568	568	of income,’’ after ‘‘sex’’ each place that term ap-8
569	569	pears; 9
570	570	(3) in section 805, by inserting ‘‘(as defined in 10
571	571	section 208 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), source 11
572	572	of income,’’ after ‘‘sex’’ each place that term ap-12
573	573	pears; 13
574	574	(4) in section 806, by inserting ‘‘(as defined in 14
575	575	section 208 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), source 15
576	576	of income,’’ after ‘‘sex’’; 16
577	577	(5) in section 807 (42 U.S.C. 3607), by adding 17
578	578	at the end the following: 18
579	579	‘‘(c) Nothing in this title shall be construed to— 19
580	580	‘‘(1) prohibit an entity from providing housing 20
581	581	assistance under section 8(o)(19) of the United 21
582	582	States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 22
583	583	1437f(o)(19)) in a nondiscriminatory manner; or 23
584	584	‘‘(2) limit the ability of the owner of a dwelling 24
585	585	to determine, in a commercially reasonable and non- 25
586	586	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1354.IH H1354
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588	588	•HR 1354 IH
589	589	discriminatory manner, the ability of a person to af-1
590	590	ford to purchase or rent the dwelling.’’; and 2
591	591	(6) in section 808(e)(6) (42 U.S.C. 3608(e)(6)), 3
592	592	by inserting ‘‘source of income,’’ after ‘‘handicap,’’. 4
593	593	(e) P
594	594	REVENTION OFINTIMIDATION INFAIRHOUS-5
595	595	INGCASES.—Section 901 of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 6
596	596	(42 U.S.C. 3631) is amended by inserting ‘‘(as such term 7
597	597	is defined in section 208 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), 8
598	598	source of income (as defined in section 802),’’ after ‘‘sex’’ 9
599	599	each place that term appears. 10
600	600	SEC. 4. RIGHT OF RECOVERY. 11
601	601	(a) C
602	602	IVILRIGHTSACT OF1964.—Title VI of the 12
603	603	Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.) is 13
604	604	amended by inserting after section 602 the following: 14
605	605	‘‘SEC. 602A. ACTIONS BROUGHT BY PERSONS AGGRIEVED. 15
606	606	‘‘(a) C
607	607	LAIMSBASED ONPROOF OFINTENTIONAL 16
608	608	D
609	609	ISCRIMINATION.—In an action brought by a person ag-17
610	610	grieved under this title against a covered entity who has 18
611	611	engaged in unlawful intentional discrimination (not a 19
612	612	practice that is unlawful because of its disparate impact) 20
613	613	prohibited under this title (including its implementing reg-21
614	614	ulations), the person aggrieved may recover equitable and 22
615	615	legal relief (including compensatory and punitive dam-23
616	616	ages), attorney’s fees (including expert fees), and costs, 24
617	617	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1354.IH H1354
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619	619	•HR 1354 IH
620	620	except that punitive damages are not available against a 1
621	621	government, government agency, or political subdivision. 2
622	622	‘‘(b) C
623	623	LAIMSBASED ON THE DISPARATEIMPACT 3
624	624	S
625	625	TANDARD OFPROOF.—In an action brought by a person 4
626	626	aggrieved under this title against a covered entity who has 5
627	627	engaged in unlawful discrimination based on disparate im-6
628	628	pact prohibited under this title (including its implementing 7
629	629	regulations), the person aggrieved may recover equitable 8
630	630	and legal relief (including compensatory and punitive dam-9
631	631	ages), attorney’s fees (including expert fees), and costs, 10
632	632	except that punitive damages are not available against a 11
633	633	government, government agency, or political subdivision. 12
634	634	‘‘(c) S
635	635	ETTLEMENT.—In any settlement agreement or 13
636	636	consent decree to resolve an action brought or which may 14
637	637	be brought under this title, attorney’s fees of the plaintiff 15
638	638	shall be included.’’. 16
639	639	(b) E
640	640	DUCATIONAMENDMENTS OF 1972.—Title IX of 17
641	641	the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et 18
642	642	seq.) is amended by inserting after section 902 the fol-19
643	643	lowing: 20
644	644	‘‘SEC. 902A. ACTIONS BROUGHT BY PERSONS AGGRIEVED. 21
645	645	‘‘(a) C
646	646	LAIMSBASED ONPROOF OFINTENTIONAL 22
647	647	D
648	648	ISCRIMINATION.—In an action brought by a person ag-23
649	649	grieved under this title against a covered entity who has 24
650	650	engaged in unlawful intentional discrimination (not a 25
651	651	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1354.IH H1354
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653	653	•HR 1354 IH
654	654	practice that is unlawful because of its disparate impact) 1
655	655	prohibited under this title (including its implementing reg-2
656	656	ulations), the person aggrieved may recover equitable and 3
657	657	legal relief (including compensatory and punitive dam-4
658	658	ages), attorney’s fees (including expert fees), and costs, 5
659	659	except that punitive damages are not available against a 6
660	660	government, government agency, or political subdivision. 7
661	661	‘‘(b) C
662	662	LAIMSBASED ON THE DISPARATEIMPACT 8
663	663	S
664	664	TANDARD OFPROOF.—In an action brought by a person 9
665	665	aggrieved under this title against a covered entity who has 10
666	666	engaged in unlawful discrimination based on disparate im-11
667	667	pact prohibited under this title (including its implementing 12
668	668	regulations), the person aggrieved may recover equitable 13
669	669	and legal relief (including compensatory and punitive dam-14
670	670	ages), attorney’s fees (including expert fees), and costs, 15
671	671	except that punitive damages are not available against a 16
672	672	government, government agency, or political subdivision. 17
673	673	‘‘(c) S
674	674	ETTLEMENT.—In any settlement agreement or 18
675	675	consent decree to resolve an action brought or which may 19
676	676	be brought under this title, attorney’s fees of the plaintiff 20
677	677	shall be included.’’. 21
678	678	(c) A
679	679	GEDISCRIMINATIONACT OF1975.— 22
680	680	(1) I
681	681	N GENERAL.—Section 305 of the Age Dis-23
682	682	crimination Act of 1975 (42 U.S.C. 6104) is amend-24
683	683	ed by adding at the end the following: 25
684	684	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1354.IH H1354
685	685	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 25
686	686	•HR 1354 IH
687	687	‘‘(g)(1) In an action brought by a person aggrieved 1
688	688	under this title against a covered entity who has engaged 2
689	689	in unlawful intentional discrimination (not a practice that 3
690	690	is unlawful because of its disparate impact) prohibited 4
691	691	under this title (including its implementing regulations), 5
692	692	the person aggrieved may recover equitable and legal relief 6
693	693	(including compensatory and punitive damages), attor-7
694	694	ney’s fees (including expert fees), and costs, except that 8
695	695	punitive damages are not available against a government, 9
696	696	government agency, or political subdivision. 10
697	697	‘‘(2) In an action brought by a person aggrieved 11
698	698	under this title against a covered entity who has engaged 12
699	699	in unlawful discrimination based on disparate impact pro-13
700	700	hibited under this title (including its implementing regula-14
701	701	tions), the person aggrieved may recover equitable and 15
702	702	legal relief (including compensatory and punitive dam-16
703	703	ages), attorney’s fees (including expert fees), and costs, 17
704	704	except that punitive damages are not available against a 18
705	705	government, government agency, or political subdivision. 19
706	706	‘‘(3) In any settlement agreement or consent decree 20
707	707	to resolve an action brought or which may be brought 21
708	708	under this title, attorney’s fees of the plaintiff shall be 22
709	709	included.’’. 23
710	710	(2) C
711	711	ONFORMITY OF ADA WITH TITLE VI AND 24
712	712	TITLE IX.— 25
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715	715	•HR 1354 IH
716	716	(A) ELIMINATING WAIVER OF RIGHT TO 1
717	717	FEES IF NOT REQUESTED IN COMPLAINT .—Sec-2
718	718	tion 305(e)(1) of the Age Discrimination Act of 3
719	719	1975 (42 U.S.C. 6104(e)) is amended— 4
720	720	(i) by striking ‘‘to enjoin a violation’’ 5
721	721	and inserting ‘‘to redress a violation’’; and 6
722	722	(ii) by striking the second sentence 7
723	723	and inserting the following: ‘‘The Court 8
724	724	shall award the costs of suit, including a 9
725	725	reasonable attorney’s fee (including expert 10
726	726	fees), to the prevailing plaintiff.’’. 11
727	727	(B) E
728	728	LIMINATING UNNECESSARY MAN -12
729	729	DATES: TO EXHAUST ADMINISTRATIVE REM -13
730	730	EDIES; AND TO DELAY SUIT LONGER THAN 180 14
731	731	DAYS TO OBTAIN AGENCY REVIEW .—Section 15
732	732	305(f) of the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 16
733	733	(42 U.S.C. 6104(f)) is amended by striking 17
734	734	‘‘With respect to actions brought for relief 18
735	735	based on an alleged violation of the provisions 19
736	736	of this title,’’ and inserting ‘‘Actions brought 20
737	737	for relief based on an alleged violation of the 21
738	738	provisions of this title may be initiated in a 22
739	739	court of competent jurisdiction, pursuant to 23
740	740	section 305(e), or before the relevant Federal 24
741	741	department or agency. With respect to such ac-25
742	742	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1354.IH H1354
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744	744	•HR 1354 IH
745	745	tions brought initially before the relevant Fed-1
746	746	eral department or agency,’’. 2
747	747	(C) E
748	748	LIMINATING DUPLICATIVE ‘‘REASON-3
749	749	ABLENESS’’ REQUIREMENT; CLARIFYING THAT 4
750	750	‘‘
751	751	REASONABLE FACTORS OTHER THAN AGE ’’ IS 5
752	752	DEFENSE TO A DISPARATE IMPACT CLAIM , NOT 6
753	753	AN EXCEPTION TO ADA COVERAGE .—Section 7
754	754	304(b)(1) of the Age Discrimination Act of 8
755	755	1975 (42 U.S.C. 6103(b)(1)) is amended by 9
756	756	striking ‘‘involved—’’ and all that follows 10
757	757	through the period and inserting ‘‘involved such 11
758	758	action reasonably takes into account age as a 12
759	759	factor necessary to the normal operation or the 13
760	760	achievement of any statutory objective of such 14
761	761	program or activity.’’. 15
762	762	(d) R
763	763	EHABILITATIONACT OF1973.—Section 504 of 16
764	764	the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) is amend-17
765	765	ed by adding at the end the following: 18
766	766	‘‘(e)(1) In an action brought by a person aggrieved 19
767	767	by discrimination on the basis of disability (referred to in 20
768	768	this section as an ‘person aggrieved’) under this section 21
769	769	against an entity subject to this section (referred to in 22
770	770	this section as a ‘covered entity’) who has engaged in un-23
771	771	lawful intentional discrimination (not a practice that is 24
772	772	unlawful because of its disparate impact) prohibited under 25
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775	775	•HR 1354 IH
776	776	this section (including its implementing regulations), the 1
777	777	person aggrieved may recover equitable and legal relief 2
778	778	(including compensatory and punitive damages), attor-3
779	779	ney’s fees (including expert fees), and costs, except that 4
780	780	punitive damages are not available against a government, 5
781	781	government agency, or political subdivision. 6
782	782	‘‘(2) In an action brought by a person aggrieved 7
783	783	under this section against a covered entity who has en-8
784	784	gaged in unlawful discrimination based on disparate im-9
785	785	pact prohibited under this section (including its imple-10
786	786	menting regulations), the person aggrieved may recover 11
787	787	equitable and legal relief (including compensatory and pu-12
788	788	nitive damages), attorney’s fees (including expert fees), 13
789	789	and costs, except that punitive damages are not available 14
790	790	against a government, government agency, or political 15
791	791	subdivision. 16
792	792	‘‘(3) Equitable and legal relief (including compen-17
793	793	satory and punitive damages), attorney’s fees (including 18
794	794	expert fees), and costs shall be available in all cases 19
795	795	brought for the failure to provide reasonable accommoda-20
796	796	tions or reasonable modifications, or the failure to comply 21
797	797	with requirements of effective communication, accessible 22
798	798	design, maintenance of accessible features, or program ac-23
799	799	cessibility. 24
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802	802	•HR 1354 IH
803	803	‘‘(4) In any settlement agreement or consent decree 1
804	804	to resolve an action brought or which may be brought 2
805	805	under this section, attorney’s fees of the plaintiff shall be 3
806	806	included.’’. 4
807	807	(e) F
808	808	AIRHOUSINGACT.—The Fair Housing Act 5
809	809	(title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968; 42 U.S.C. 3601 6
810	810	et seq.), as amended by this Act, is further amended by 7
811	811	adding at the end the following: 8
812	812	‘‘SEC. 823. DISPARATE IMPACT. 9
813	813	‘‘(a) I
814	814	NGENERAL.— 10
815	815	‘‘(1) E
816	816	STABLISHMENT.—Discrimination (includ-11
817	817	ing exclusion from participation and denial of bene-12
818	818	fits) based on disparate impact is established under 13
819	819	this title only if— 14
820	820	‘‘(A) a person aggrieved by discrimination 15
821	821	on the basis of race, color, sex, or national ori-16
822	822	gin demonstrates that an entity subject to this 17
823	823	title (referred to in this title as a ‘covered enti-18
824	824	ty’) has a policy or practice that causes a dis-19
825	825	parate impact on the basis of race, color, sex, 20
826	826	or national origin and the covered entity fails to 21
827	827	demonstrate that the challenged policy or prac-22
828	828	tice is related to and necessary to achieve the 23
829	829	nondiscriminatory goals of the program or ac-24
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832	832	•HR 1354 IH
833	833	tivity alleged to have been operated in a dis-1
834	834	criminatory manner; or 2
835	835	‘‘(B) the person aggrieved demonstrates 3
836	836	that a less discriminatory alternative policy or 4
837	837	practice exists, and the covered entity refuses to 5
838	838	adopt such alternative policy or practice. 6
839	839	‘‘(2) D
840	840	EMONSTRATION.— 7
841	841	‘‘(A) C
842	842	AUSATION.—With respect to demonstrating 8
843	843	that a particular policy or practice causes a disparate im-9
844	844	pact as described in subsection (a)(1), the person ag-10
845	845	grieved shall demonstrate that each particular challenged 11
846	846	policy or practice causes a disparate impact, except that 12
847	847	if the person aggrieved demonstrates to the court that the 13
848	848	elements of a covered entity’s decisionmaking process are 14
849	849	not capable of separation for analysis, the decisionmaking 15
850	850	process may be analyzed as 1 policy or practice. 16
851	851	‘‘(B) N
852	852	OREQUIREMENTTODEMONSTRATE.—If the 17
853	853	covered entity demonstrates that a specific policy or prac-18
854	854	tice does not cause the disparate impact, the covered enti-19
855	855	ty shall not be required to demonstrate that such policy 20
856	856	or practice is necessary to achieve the goals of its program 21
857	857	or activity. 22
858	858	‘‘(b) N
859	859	ECESSITY OFINTENTIONALDISCRIMINATION 23
860	860	T
861	861	OACHIEVEPOLICYGOALSNOT ADEFENSE.—A dem-24
862	862	onstration that a policy or practice is necessary to achieve 25
863	863	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00030 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1354.IH H1354
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865	865	•HR 1354 IH
866	866	the goals of a program or activity may not be used as 1
867	867	a defense against a claim of intentional discrimination 2
868	868	under this title. 3
869	869	‘‘(c) D
870	870	EFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘dem-4
871	871	onstrates’ means meets the burdens of production and per-5
872	872	suasion. 6
873	873	‘‘SEC. 824. RELIEF FOR CLAIMS BASED ON DIFFERING 7
874	874	STANDARDS OF PROOF. 8
875	875	‘‘(a) C
876	876	LAIMSBASED ONPROOF OFINTENTIONAL 9
877	877	D
878	878	ISCRIMINATION.—In an action brought by a person ag-10
879	879	grieved under this title against a covered entity who has 11
880	880	engaged in unlawful intentional discrimination (not a 12
881	881	practice that is unlawful because of its disparate impact) 13
882	882	prohibited under this title (including its implementing reg-14
883	883	ulations), the person aggrieved may recover equitable and 15
884	884	legal relief (including compensatory and punitive dam-16
885	885	ages), attorney’s fees (including expert fees), and costs, 17
886	886	except that punitive damages are not available against a 18
887	887	government, government agency, or political subdivision. 19
888	888	‘‘(b) C
889	889	LAIMSBASED ON THE DISPARATEIMPACT 20
890	890	S
891	891	TANDARD OFPROOF.—In an action brought by a person 21
892	892	aggrieved under this title against a covered entity who has 22
893	893	engaged in unlawful discrimination based on disparate im-23
894	894	pact prohibited under this title (including its implementing 24
895	895	regulations), the person aggrieved may recover equitable 25
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898	898	•HR 1354 IH
899	899	and legal relief (including compensatory and punitive dam-1
900	900	ages), attorney’s fees (including expert fees), and costs, 2
901	901	except that punitive damages are not available against a 3
902	902	government, government agency, or political subdivision. 4
903	903	‘‘(c) R
904	904	ELIEFAVAILABLE.—Equitable and legal relief 5
905	905	(including compensatory and punitive damages), attor-6
906	906	ney’s fees (including expert fees), and costs shall be avail-7
907	907	able in all cases brought for the failure to permit reason-8
908	908	able accommodations, make reasonable modifications, or 9
909	909	design and construct accessible dwellings as required by 10
910	910	section 804(f)(3)(C). 11
911	911	‘‘(d) S
912	912	ETTLEMENT.—In any settlement agreement or 12
913	913	consent decree to resolve an action brought or which may 13
914	914	be brought under this title, attorney’s fees of the plaintiff 14
915	915	shall be included.’’. 15
916	916	SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON DISCRIMINATION BY LAW EN-16
917	917	FORCEMENT. 17
918	918	(a) D
919	919	EFINITIONS.—In this section— 18
920	920	(1) The term ‘‘governmental body’’ means any 19
921	921	department, agency, special purpose district, or 20
922	922	other instrumentality of Federal, State, local, or In-21
923	923	dian tribal government. 22
924	924	(2) The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ has the meaning 23
925	925	given the term in section 102 of the Federally Rec-24
926	926	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1354.IH H1354
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928	928	•HR 1354 IH
929	929	ognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 1
930	930	479a). 2
931	931	(3) The term ‘‘law enforcement agency’’ means 3
932	932	any Federal, State, local, or Indian tribal govern-4
933	933	mental body engaged in the prevention, detection, or 5
934	934	investigation of violations of criminal, immigration, 6
935	935	or customs laws. 7
936	936	(4) The term ‘‘law enforcement agent’’ means 8
937	937	any Federal, State, local, or Indian tribal official re-9
938	938	sponsible for enforcing criminal, immigration, or 10
939	939	customs laws, including police officers and other 11
940	940	agents of a law enforcement agency. 12
941	941	(5) The term ‘‘profiling’’ means the practice of 13
942	942	a law enforcement agent or agency relying, to any 14
943	943	degree, on actual or perceived race, ethnicity, na-15
944	944	tional origin, religion, sex (as defined in section 208 16
945	945	of the Civil Rights Act of 1964), gender identity, or 17
946	946	sexual orientation in selecting which individual to 18
947	947	subject to routine or spontaneous investigatory ac-19
948	948	tivities or in deciding upon the scope and substance 20
949	949	of law enforcement activity following any initial in-21
950	950	vestigatory procedure, except when there is trust-22
951	951	worthy information, relevant to the locality and 23
952	952	timeframe, that links a person with a particular 24
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955	955	•HR 1354 IH
956	956	characteristic described in this paragraph to an 1
957	957	identified criminal incident or scheme. 2
958	958	(6) The term ‘‘routine or spontaneous investiga-3
959	959	tory activities’’ means the following activities by a 4
960	960	law enforcement agent: 5
961	961	(A) Interviews. 6
962	962	(B) Traffic stops. 7
963	963	(C) Pedestrian stops. 8
964	964	(D) Frisks and other types of body 9
965	965	searches. 10
966	966	(E) Consensual or nonconsensual searches 11
967	967	of the persons, property, or possessions (includ-12
968	968	ing vehicles) of individuals using any form of 13
969	969	public or private transportation, including mo-14
970	970	torists and pedestrians. 15
971	971	(F) Data collection, analysis, assessments, 16
972	972	and predicated investigations. 17
973	973	(G) Inspections and interviews of entrants 18
974	974	into the United States that are more extensive 19
975	975	than those customarily carried out. 20
976	976	(H) Immigration-related workplace inves-21
977	977	tigations. 22
978	978	(I) Such other types of law enforcement 23
979	979	encounters compiled for or by the Federal Bu-24
980	980	VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:50 Mar 11, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1354.IH H1354
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982	982	•HR 1354 IH
983	983	reau of Investigation or the Department of Jus-1
984	984	tice Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2
985	985	(7) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the 50 3
986	986	States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 4
987	987	of Puerto Rico, and any other territory or possession 5
988	988	of the United States. 6
989	989	(8) The term ‘‘unit of local government’’ 7
990	990	means— 8
991	991	(A) any city, county, township, town, bor-9
992	992	ough, parish, village, or other general purpose 10
993	993	political subdivision of a State; 11
994	994	(B) any law enforcement district or judicial 12
995	995	enforcement district that— 13
996	996	(i) is established under applicable 14
997	997	State law; and 15
998	998	(ii) has the authority to, in a manner 16
999	999	independent of other State entities, estab-17
1000	1000	lish a budget and impose taxes; or 18
1001	1001	(C) any Indian tribe that performs law en-19
1002	1002	forcement functions, as determined by the Sec-20
1003	1003	retary of the Interior. 21
1004	1004	(b) P
1005	1005	ROHIBITION OFPROFILING.— 22
1006	1006	(1) I
1007	1007	N GENERAL.—No law enforcement agent 23
1008	1008	or law enforcement agency shall engage in profiling. 24
1009	1009	(2) E
1010	1010	NFORCEMENT.— 25
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1013	1013	•HR 1354 IH
1014	1014	(A) REMEDY.—The United States, or an 1
1015	1015	individual injured by profiling, may enforce this 2
1016	1016	title in a civil action for equitable or legal relief, 3
1017	1017	filed in a State court of general jurisdiction or 4
1018	1018	in a district court of the United States. 5
1019	1019	(B) P
1020	1020	ARTIES.—In any action brought 6
1021	1021	under this title, relief may be obtained 7
1022	1022	against— 8
1023	1023	(i) any governmental body that em-9
1024	1024	ployed any law enforcement agent who en-10
1025	1025	gaged in profiling; 11
1026	1026	(ii) any agent of such body who en-12
1027	1027	gaged in profiling; and 13
1028	1028	(iii) any person with supervisory au-14
1029	1029	thority over such agent. 15
1030	1030	(C) N
1031	1031	ATURE OF PROOF .—Proof that the 16
1032	1032	routine or spontaneous investigatory activities 17
1033	1033	of law enforcement agents in a jurisdiction have 18
1034	1034	had a disparate impact on individuals with a 19
1035	1035	particular characteristic described in subsection 20
1036	1036	(a)(5) shall constitute prima facie evidence of a 21
1037	1037	violation of this section. 22
1038	1038	(D) A
1039	1039	TTORNEY’S FEES.—In any action or 23
1040	1040	proceeding to enforce this section against any 24
1041	1041	governmental body, the court may allow a pre-25
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1044	1044	•HR 1354 IH
1045	1045	vailing plaintiff, other than the United States, 1
1046	1046	reasonable attorney’s fees as part of the costs, 2
1047	1047	and may include expert fees as part of the at-3
1048	1048	torney’s fees. 4
1049	1049	SEC. 6. PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS. 5
1050	1050	(a) P
1051	1051	ROHIBITION ONDISCRIMINATION ORSEGREGA-6
1052	1052	TION INPUBLICACCOMMODATIONS.—Section 201 of the 7
1053	1053	Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a) is amended— 8
1054	1054	(1) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘sex,’’ before 9
1055	1055	‘‘or national origin’’; and 10
1056	1056	(2) in subsection (b)— 11
1057	1057	(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘sta-12
1058	1058	dium’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘sta-13
1059	1059	dium or other place or establishment that pro-14
1060	1060	vides exhibition, entertainment, recreation, exer-15
1061	1061	cise, amusement, gathering, or display;’’; 16
1062	1062	(B) by redesignating paragraph (4) as 17
1063	1063	paragraph (6); and 18
1064	1064	(C) by inserting after paragraph (3) the 19
1065	1065	following: 20
1066	1066	‘‘(4) any establishment that provides a good, 21
1067	1067	service, or program, including a store, shopping cen-22
1068	1068	ter, online retailer or service provider, salon, bank, 23
1069	1069	gas station, food bank, service or care center, shel-24
1070	1070	ter, travel agency, funeral parlor, or any establish-25
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1073	1073	•HR 1354 IH
1074	1074	ment that provides health care, accounting, or legal 1
1075	1075	services; 2
1076	1076	‘‘(5) any train service, bus service, car service, 3
1077	1077	taxi service, airline service, station, depot, or other 4
1078	1078	place of or establishment that provides transpor-5
1079	1079	tation service; and’’. 6
1080	1080	(b) P
1081	1081	ROHIBITION ONDISCRIMINATION ORSEGREGA-7
1082	1082	TIONUNDERLAW.—Section 202 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 8
1083	1083	2000a–1) is amended by inserting ‘‘sex,’’ before ‘‘or na-9
1084	1084	tional origin’’. 10
1085	1085	(c) D
1086	1086	EFINITIONS ANDRULES OFCONSTRUCTION.— 11
1087	1087	Title II of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.) is amended 12
1088	1088	by adding at the end the following: 13
1089	1089	‘‘SEC. 208. DEFINITIONS AND RULES. 14
1090	1090	‘‘(a) D
1091	1091	EFINITIONS.— 15
1092	1092	‘‘(1) R
1093	1093	ACE; COLOR; RELIGION; SEX; SEXUAL 16
1094	1094	ORIENTATION; GENDER IDENTITY ; NATIONAL ORI-17
1095	1095	GIN.—The term ‘race’, ‘color’, ‘religion’, ‘sex (includ-18
1096	1096	ing sexual orientation and gender identity)’, or ‘na-19
1097	1097	tional origin’, used with respect to an individual, in-20
1098	1098	cludes— 21
1099	1099	‘‘(A) the race, color, religion, sex (includ-22
1100	1100	ing sexual orientation and gender identity), or 23
1101	1101	national origin, respectively, of another person 24
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1104	1104	•HR 1354 IH
1105	1105	with whom the individual is associated or has 1
1106	1106	been associated; 2
1107	1107	‘‘(B) a perception or belief, even if inac-3
1108	1108	curate, concerning the race, color, religion, sex 4
1109	1109	(including sexual orientation and gender iden-5
1110	1110	tity), or national origin, respectively, of the in-6
1111	1111	dividual; and 7
1112	1112	‘‘(C) in the case of race, traits historically 8
1113	1113	associated with race, including natural hair tex-9
1114	1114	ture and protective hairstyles. 10
1115	1115	‘‘(2) G
1116	1116	ENDER IDENTITY.—The term ‘gender 11
1117	1117	identity’ means the gender-related identity, appear-12
1118	1118	ance, mannerisms, or other gender-related character-13
1119	1119	istics of an individual, regardless of the individual’s 14
1120	1120	designated sex at birth. 15
1121	1121	‘‘(3) I
1122	1122	NCLUDING.—The term ‘including’ means 16
1123	1123	including, but not limited to, consistent with the 17
1124	1124	term’s standard meaning in Federal law. 18
1125	1125	‘‘(4) N
1126	1126	ATURAL HAIRSTYLES .—The term ‘nat-19
1127	1127	ural hair’ includes— 20
1128	1128	‘‘(A) protective and natural hairstyles, 21
1129	1129	which includes braids, locs, weaves, twists, 22
1130	1130	afros; and 23
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1133	1133	•HR 1354 IH
1134	1134	‘‘(B) natural hair texture, which includes 1
1135	1135	wavy, kinky, curl, and coily, and also the vari-2
1136	1136	ation of texture in between. 3
1137	1137	‘‘(5) S
1138	1138	EX.—The term ‘sex’ includes— 4
1139	1139	‘‘(A) a sex stereotype; 5
1140	1140	‘‘(B) pregnancy, childbirth, or a related 6
1141	1141	medical condition; 7
1142	1142	‘‘(C) sexual orientation or gender identity; 8
1143	1143	and 9
1144	1144	‘‘(D) sex characteristics, including intersex 10
1145	1145	traits. 11
1146	1146	‘‘(6) S
1147	1147	EXUAL ORIENTATION .—The term ‘sexual 12
1148	1148	orientation’ means an individual’s actual or per-13
1149	1149	ceived romantic, physical, or sexual attraction to 14
1150	1150	other persons, or lack thereof, that includes hetero-15
1151	1151	sexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality. 16
1152	1152	‘‘(b) R
1153	1153	ULES.—In providing a remedy under this Act: 17
1154	1154	‘‘(1) In the case of any conduct alleged to be 18
1155	1155	discriminatory on the basis of sex, the remedy under 19
1156	1156	this Act for such conduct, to the extent it pertains 20
1157	1157	to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condi-21
1158	1158	tion may not result in a less substantial remedy than 22
1159	1159	any other remedy for discrimination on the basis of 23
1160	1160	sex. 24
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1163	1163	•HR 1354 IH
1164	1164	‘‘(2) In the case of any conduct alleged to be 1
1165	1165	discriminatory on the basis of sex (with respect to 2
1166	1166	gender identity), an individual shall not be denied 3
1167	1167	access to a shared facility, including a restroom, a 4
1168	1168	locker room, and a dressing room, that is in accord-5
1169	1169	ance with the individual’s gender identity. 6
1170	1170	‘‘SEC. 209. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 7
1171	1171	‘‘(a) C
1172	1172	LAIMS ANDREMEDIESNOTPRECLUDED.— 8
1173	1173	Nothing in this title shall be construed to limit the claims 9
1174	1174	or remedies available to any individual for an unlawful 10
1175	1175	practice on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or na-11
1176	1176	tional origin including claims brought pursuant to section 12
1177	1177	1979 or 1980 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1983, 13
1178	1178	1985) or any other law, including the Federal law amend-14
1179	1179	ed by the Customer Non-Discrimination Act, regulation, 15
1180	1180	or policy. 16
1181	1181	‘‘(b) N
1182	1182	ONEGATIVEINFERENCE.—Nothing in this 17
1183	1183	title shall be construed to support any inference that any 18
1184	1184	Federal law prohibiting a practice on the basis of sex does 19
1185	1185	not prohibit discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, 20
1186	1186	childbirth, or a related medical condition, sexual orienta-21
1187	1187	tion, gender identity, or a sex stereotype. 22
1188	1188	‘‘(c) S
1189	1189	COPE OF ANESTABLISHMENT.—A reference in 23
1190	1190	this title to an establishment— 24
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1193	1193	•HR 1354 IH
1194	1194	‘‘(1) shall be construed to include an individual 1
1195	1195	whose operations affect commerce and who is a pro-2
1196	1196	vider of a good, service, or program; and 3
1197	1197	‘‘(2) shall not be construed to be limited to a 4
1198	1198	physical facility or place. 5
1199	1199	‘‘SEC. 210. CLAIMS. 6
1200	1200	‘‘The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 7
1201	1201	U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.) shall not provide a claim con-8
1202	1202	cerning, or a defense to a claim under this title or provide 9
1203	1203	a basis for challenging the application or enforcement of 10
1204	1204	this title.’’. 11
1205	1205	SEC. 7. STRICT VICARIOUS EMPLOYER LIABILITY AND 12
1206	1206	FARAGHER-ELLERTH AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE 13
1207	1207	REMOVED. 14
1208	1208	Section 706 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 15
1209	1209	U.S.C. 2000e–5 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 16
1210	1210	the following: 17
1211	1211	‘‘(l) An employer shall be liable for any act of dis-18
1212	1212	crimination prohibited under this title (including harass-19
1213	1213	ment, intimidation, or retaliation) committed by any of its 20
1214	1214	employees. 21
1215	1215	‘‘(m) It shall not be a defense to a claim under this 22
1216	1216	title or provide a basis for challenging the application or 23
1217	1217	enforcement of this title— 24
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1220	1220	•HR 1354 IH
1221	1221	‘‘(1) that an employer exercised reasonable care 1
1222	1222	in attempting to prevent or took corrective action re-2
1223	1223	garding any act of discrimination on the basis of sex 3
1224	1224	(including intimidation, harassment, or retaliation); 4
1225	1225	‘‘(2) that adverse employment action was not 5
1226	1226	taken by such an employer; or 6
1227	1227	‘‘(3) that an employee affected by that act did 7
1228	1228	not take advantage of preventive opportunities to 8
1229	1229	avoid harm.’’. 9
1230	1230	SEC. 8. ARBITRATION OF EMPLOYMENT, CONSUMER, AND 10
1231	1231	CIVIL RIGHTS DISPUTES. 11
1232	1232	(a) P
1233	1233	URPOSES.—The purposes of this section are 12
1234	1234	to— 13
1235	1235	(1) prohibit predispute arbitration agreements 14
1236	1236	that force arbitration of future employment, con-15
1237	1237	sumer, or civil rights disputes; and 16
1238	1238	(2) prohibit agreements and practices that 17
1239	1239	interfere with the right of individuals, workers, and 18
1240	1240	small businesses to participate in a joint, class, or 19
1241	1241	collective action related to an employment, con-20
1242	1242	sumer, or civil rights dispute. 21
1243	1243	(b) I
1244	1244	NGENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States Code 22
1245	1245	is amended by adding at the end the following: 23
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1248	1248	•HR 1354 IH
1249	1249	‘‘CHAPTER 4—ARBITRATION OF EMPLOY-1
1250	1250	MENT, CONSUMER, AND CIVIL RIGHTS 2
1251	1251	DISPUTES 3
1252	1252	‘‘SEC. 401. DEFINITIONS. 4
1253	1253	‘‘In this chapter— 5
1254	1254	‘‘(1) the term ‘civil rights dispute’ means a dis-6
1255	1255	pute— 7
1256	1256	‘‘(A) arising from an alleged violation of— 8
1257	1257	‘‘(i) the Constitution of the United 9
1258	1258	States or the constitution of a State; and 10
1259	1259	‘‘(ii) any Federal, State, or local law 11
1260	1260	that prohibits discrimination on the basis 12
1261	1261	of race, sex, age, gender identity, sexual 13
1262	1262	orientation, disability, religion, national or-14
1263	1263	igin, or any legally protected status in edu-15
1264	1264	cation, employment, credit, housing, public 16
1265	1265	accommodations and facilities, voting, vet-17
1266	1266	erans or servicemembers, health care, or a 18
1267	1267	program funded or conducted by the Fed-19
1268	1268	eral Government or State government, in-20
1269	1269	cluding any law referred to or described in 21
1270	1270	section 62(e) of the Internal Revenue Code 22
1271	1271	of 1986, including parts of such law not 23
1272	1272	explicitly referenced in such section but 24
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1275	1275	•HR 1354 IH
1276	1276	that relate to protecting individuals on any 1
1277	1277	such basis; and 2
1278	1278	‘‘(B) in which at least one party alleging a 3
1279	1279	violation described in subparagraph (A) is one 4
1280	1280	or more individuals (or their authorized rep-5
1281	1281	resentative), including one or more individuals 6
1282	1282	seeking certification as a class under rule 23 of 7
1283	1283	the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or a com-8
1284	1284	parable rule or provision of State law; 9
1285	1285	‘‘(2) the term ‘consumer dispute’ means a dis-10
1286	1286	pute between— 11
1287	1287	‘‘(A) one or more individuals who seek or 12
1288	1288	acquire real or personal property, services (in-13
1289	1289	cluding services related to digital technology), 14
1290	1290	securities or other investments, money, or credit 15
1291	1291	for personal, family, or household purposes in-16
1292	1292	cluding an individual or individuals who seek 17
1293	1293	certification as a class under rule 23 of the 18
1294	1294	Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or a com-19
1295	1295	parable rule or provision of State law; and 20
1296	1296	‘‘(B)(i) the seller or provider of such prop-21
1297	1297	erty, services, securities or other investments, 22
1298	1298	money, or credit; or 23
1299	1299	‘‘(ii) a third party involved in the selling, 24
1300	1300	providing of, payment for, receipt or use of in-25
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1303	1303	•HR 1354 IH
1304	1304	formation about, or other relationship to any 1
1305	1305	such property, services, securities or other in-2
1306	1306	vestments, money, or credit; 3
1307	1307	‘‘(3) the term ‘employment dispute’ means a 4
1308	1308	dispute between one or more individuals (or their 5
1309	1309	authorized representative) and a person arising out 6
1310	1310	of or related to the work relationship or prospective 7
1311	1311	work relationship between them, including a dispute 8
1312	1312	regarding the terms of or payment for, advertising 9
1313	1313	of, recruiting for, referring of, arranging for, or dis-10
1314	1314	cipline or discharge in connection with, such work, 11
1315	1315	regardless of whether the individual is or would be 12
1316	1316	classified as an employee or an independent con-13
1317	1317	tractor with respect to such work, and including a 14
1318	1318	dispute arising under any law referred to or de-15
1319	1319	scribed in section 62(e) of the Internal Revenue 16
1320	1320	Code of 1986, including parts of such law not explic-17
1321	1321	itly referenced in such section but that relate to pro-18
1322	1322	tecting individuals on any such basis, and including 19
1323	1323	a dispute in which an individual or individuals seek 20
1324	1324	certification as a class under rule 23 of the Federal 21
1325	1325	Rules of Civil Procedure or as a collective action 22
1326	1326	under section 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards 23
1327	1327	Act, or a comparable rule or provision of State law; 24
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1330	1330	•HR 1354 IH
1331	1331	‘‘(4) the term ‘predispute arbitration agree-1
1332	1332	ment’ means an agreement to arbitrate a dispute 2
1333	1333	that has not yet arisen at the time of the making 3
1334	1334	of the agreement; and 4
1335	1335	‘‘(5) the term ‘predispute joint-action waiver’ 5
1336	1336	means an agreement, whether or not part of a 6
1337	1337	predispute arbitration agreement, that would pro-7
1338	1338	hibit, or waive the right of, one of the parties to the 8
1339	1339	agreement to participate in a joint, class, or collec-9
1340	1340	tive action in a judicial, arbitral, administrative, or 10
1341	1341	other forum, concerning a dispute that has not yet 11
1342	1342	arisen at the time of the making of the agreement. 12
1343	1343	‘‘SEC. 402. NO VALIDITY OR ENFORCEABILITY. 13
1344	1344	‘‘(a) I
1345	1345	NGENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro-14
1346	1346	vision of this title, no predispute arbitration agreement or 15
1347	1347	predispute joint-action waiver shall be valid or enforceable 16
1348	1348	with respect to an employment dispute, consumer dispute, 17
1349	1349	or civil rights dispute. 18
1350	1350	‘‘(b) A
1351	1351	PPLICABILITY.— 19
1352	1352	‘‘(1) I
1353	1353	N GENERAL.—An issue as to whether this 20
1354	1354	chapter applies with respect to a dispute shall be de-21
1355	1355	termined under Federal law. The applicability of this 22
1356	1356	chapter to an agreement to arbitrate and the validity 23
1357	1357	and enforceability of an agreement to which this 24
1358	1358	chapter applies shall be determined by a court, rath-25
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1361	1361	•HR 1354 IH
1362	1362	er than an arbitrator, irrespective of whether the 1
1363	1363	party resisting arbitration challenges the arbitration 2
1364	1364	agreement specifically or in conjunction with other 3
1365	1365	terms of the contract containing such agreement, 4
1366	1366	and irrespective of whether the agreement purports 5
1367	1367	to delegate such determinations to an arbitrator. 6
1368	1368	‘‘(2) C
1369	1369	OLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS .— 7
1370	1370	Nothing in this chapter shall apply to any arbitra-8
1371	1371	tion provision in a contract between an employer and 9
1372	1372	a labor organization or between labor organizations, 10
1373	1373	except that no such arbitration provision shall have 11
1374	1374	the effect of waiving the right of a worker to seek 12
1375	1375	judicial enforcement of a right arising under a provi-13
1376	1376	sion of the Constitution of the United States, a 14
1377	1377	State constitution, or a Federal or State statute, or 15
1378	1378	public policy arising therefrom.’’. 16
1379	1379	(c) T
1380	1380	ECHNICAL ANDCONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.— 17
1381	1381	(1) I
1382	1382	N GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United States 18
1383	1383	Code is amended— 19
1384	1384	(A) in section 1 by striking ‘‘of seamen,’’ 20
1385	1385	and all that follows through ‘‘interstate com-21
1386	1386	merce,’’ and inserting in its place ‘‘of individ-22
1387	1387	uals, regardless of whether such individuals are 23
1388	1388	designated as employees or independent con-24
1389	1389	tractors for other purposes’’; 25
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1392	1392	•HR 1354 IH
1393	1393	(B) in section 2 by inserting ‘‘or as other-1
1394	1394	wise provided in chapter 4’’ before the period at 2
1395	1395	the end; 3
1396	1396	(C) in section 208— 4
1397	1397	(i) in the section heading by striking 5
1398	1398	‘‘
1399	1399	CHAPTER 1 ; RESIDUAL APPLICA -6
1400	1400	TION’’ and inserting ‘‘APPLICATION’’; 7
1401	1401	and 8
1402	1402	(ii) by adding at the end the fol-9
1403	1403	lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 10
1404	1404	that this chapter is not in conflict with 11
1405	1405	chapter 4.’’; and 12
1406	1406	(D) in section 307— 13
1407	1407	(i) in the section heading by striking 14
1408	1408	‘‘
1409	1409	CHAPTER 1 ; RESIDUAL APPLICA -15
1410	1410	TION’’ and inserting ‘‘APPLICATION’’; 16
1411	1411	and 17
1412	1412	(ii) by adding at the end the fol-18
1413	1413	lowing: ‘‘This chapter applies to the extent 19
1414	1414	that this chapter is not in conflict with 20
1415	1415	chapter 4.’’. 21
1416	1416	(2) T
1417	1417	ABLE OF SECTIONS.— 22
1418	1418	(A) C
1419	1419	HAPTER 2.—The table of sections of 23
1420	1420	chapter 2 of title 9, United States Code, is 24
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1423	1423	•HR 1354 IH
1424	1424	amended by striking the item relating to section 1
1425	1425	208 and inserting the following: 2
1426	1426	‘‘208. Application.’’.
1427	1427	(B) CHAPTER 3.—The table of sections of 3
1428	1428	chapter 3 of title 9, United States Code, is 4
1429	1429	amended by striking the item relating to section 5
1430	1430	307 and inserting the following: 6
1431	1431	‘‘307. Application.’’.
1432	1432	(3) TABLE OF CHAPTERS .—The table of chap-7
1433	1433	ters of title 9, United States Code, is amended by 8
1434	1434	adding at the end the following: 9
1435	1435	‘‘4. Arbitration of employment, consumer, antitrust, and civil rights disputes’’.
1436	1436	SEC. 9. LIABILITY OF CERTAIN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS.
1437	1437	10
1438	1438	(a) A
1439	1439	MENDMENT.—Revised Statute 1979 (42 U.S.C. 11
1440	1440	1983) is amended by inserting ‘‘of the United States or’’ 12
1441	1441	before ‘‘of any State’’. 13
1442	1442	(b) R
1443	1443	ULES FORAPPLICATION.—In any action under 14
1444	1444	Revised Statute 1979, the following shall apply: 15
1445	1445	(1) D
1446	1446	EFINITION OF STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ 16
1447	1447	includes any person or entity that undertakes action 17
1448	1448	under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, 18
1449	1449	custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the 19
1450	1450	District of Columbia. 20
1451	1451	(2) A
1452	1452	CTION UNDER COLOR OF LAW .—A private 21
1453	1453	person or entity undertakes action under color of 22
1454	1454	any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, 23
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1457	1457	•HR 1354 IH
1458	1458	of the United States or of any State or Territory or 1
1459	1459	the District of Columbia, when— 2
1460	1460	(A) undertaking a public function dele-3
1461	1461	gated by the United States or by a State or 4
1462	1462	local government; 5
1463	1463	(B) voluntarily undertaking a public func-6
1464	1464	tion; 7
1465	1465	(C) acting in concert with the United 8
1466	1466	States or a State or local government or acting 9
1467	1467	in concert with an individual officer, agent, or 10
1468	1468	entity of the United States or a State or local 11
1469	1469	government; 12
1470	1470	(D) engaging in joint action towards a 13
1471	1471	common goal or plan with the United States or 14
1472	1472	a State or local government or engaging in joint 15
1473	1473	action towards a common goal or plan with an 16
1474	1474	individual officer, agent, or entity of the United 17
1475	1475	States or of a State or local government; 18
1476	1476	(E) engaged in a conspiracy with the 19
1477	1477	United States or a State or local government or 20
1478	1478	engaged in a conspiracy with an individual offi-21
1479	1479	cer, agent, or entity of the United States or of 22
1480	1480	a State or local government; 23
1481	1481	(F) a close nexus exists between the pri-24
1482	1482	vate person or entity and the United States or 25
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1485	1485	•HR 1354 IH
1486	1486	a State or local government or a close nexus ex-1
1487	1487	ists between an individual officer, agent, or en-2
1488	1488	tity of the United States or a State or local 3
1489	1489	government; 4
1490	1490	(G) the activities of the private person or 5
1491	1491	entity is so entwined with the United States or 6
1492	1492	a State or local government or an individual of-7
1493	1493	ficer, agent, or entity of the United States or 8
1494	1494	of a State or local government such that the 9
1495	1495	private person or entity is fairly considered to 10
1496	1496	be acting under color of law; or 11
1497	1497	(H) otherwise exercises powers tradition-12
1498	1498	ally reserved to the United States or to State 13
1499	1499	or local government. 14
1500	1500	(3) P
1501	1501	RESUMPTION.—A private person or entity 15
1502	1502	is presumed to be acting under color of law when, 16
1503	1503	pursuant to a contract or other legally binding 17
1504	1504	agreement with the United States or with a State or 18
1505	1505	local government, the private person or entity exer-19
1506	1506	cises any power of the United States or of that State 20
1507	1507	or local government or the private person or entity 21
1508	1508	otherwise undertakes the administration, operations, 22
1509	1509	or other activities of: the judiciary, law enforcement, 23
1510	1510	public education, jails or prisons, elections, munic-24
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1513	1513	•HR 1354 IH
1514	1514	ipal water services, municipal waste removal, evic-1
1515	1515	tions, public parks, or public benefits programs. 2
1516	1516	(4) N
1517	1517	O DEFENSE OF QUALIFIED IMMUNITY .— 3
1518	1518	Qualified immunity is not a defense in an action 4
1519	1519	brought against any person who under color of any 5
1520	1520	statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of 6
1521	1521	the United States or of any State or Territory or the 7
1522	1522	District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be sub-8
1523	1523	jected, any citizen of the United States or other per-9
1524	1524	son within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation 10
1525	1525	of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by 11
1526	1526	the Constitution and laws. 12
1527	1527	(5) R
1528	1528	ESPONDEAT SUPERIOR .—In the case of 13
1529	1529	any official of any political subdivision of the United 14
1530	1530	States or of a State, if that official, acting under 15
1531	1531	color of law, violates any provision of this Act, that 16
1532	1532	official shall be amenable to any suit under this Act, 17
1533	1533	and the political subdivision may be held liable for 18
1534	1534	the acts of that official, whether acting in his or her 19
1535	1535	official or individual capacity. 20
1536	1536	SEC. 10. EXPLICIT INCLUSION OF RULEMAKINGS. 21
1537	1537	Section 1003(a)(1) of the Rehabilitation Act Amend-22
1538	1538	ments of 1986 (42 U.S.C. 2000d–7(a)(1)) is amended by 23
1539	1539	inserting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘(in-24
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1542	1542	•HR 1354 IH
1543	1543	cluding the provisions of any rule made to implement any 1
1544	1544	of the foregoing statutes)’’. 2
1545	1545	SEC. 11. CONSTRUCTION. 3
1546	1546	(a) R
1547	1547	ELIEF.—Nothing in this Act, including any 4
1548	1548	amendment made by this Act, shall be construed to limit 5
1549	1549	the scope of, or the relief available under, section 504 of 6
1550	1550	the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), the Amer-7
1551	1551	icans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et 8
1552	1552	seq.), or any other provision of law. 9
1553	1553	(b) D
1554	1554	EFENDANTS.—Nothing in this Act, including 10
1555	1555	any amendment made by this Act, shall be construed to 11
1556	1556	limit the scope of the class of persons who may be sub-12
1557	1557	jected to civil actions under the covered civil rights provi-13
1558	1558	sions. 14
1559	1559	(c) S
1560	1560	EVERABILITY.—If any provision of this Act, or 15
1561	1561	the application of such a provision to any person or cir-16
1562	1562	cumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder 17
1563	1563	of this Act and the application of the remaining provisions 18
1564	1564	of this Act to any person or circumstance shall not be af-19
1565	1565	fected thereby. 20
1566	1566	(d) A
1567	1567	RBITRATION.—Nothing in this Act, or the 21
1568	1568	amendments made by this Act, shall be construed to pro-22
1569	1569	hibit the use of arbitration on a voluntary basis after a 23
1570	1570	dispute arises. 24
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1573	1573	•HR 1354 IH
1574	1574	SEC. 12. EFFECTIVE DATE. 1
1575	1575	(a) I
1576	1576	NGENERAL.—This Act, and the amendments 2
1577	1577	made by this Act, take effect on the date of enactment 3
1578	1578	of this Act. 4
1579	1579	(b) A
1580	1580	PPLICATION.—This Act, and the amendments 5
1581	1581	made by this Act, apply to all actions or proceedings pend-6
1582	1582	ing on or after the date of enactment of this Act, and, 7
1583	1583	in the case of section 8 and the amendments made there-8
1584	1584	by, shall apply with respect to any dispute or claim that 9
1585	1585	arises or accrues on or after such date. 10
1586	1586	Æ
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