[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3646 Introduced in House (IH)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3646

To provide private remedies for certain instances of sexual harassment, 
and to provide additional funding for the Equal Employment Opportunity 
                              Commission.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 13, 1996

  Mrs. Lowey (for herself, Ms. Norton, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Watt of North 
   Carolina, Ms. Jackson-Lee, Ms. Woolsey, Ms. Pelosi, Mrs. Meek of 
    Florida, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mrs. Maloney, Mrs. 
     Clayton, Ms. Rivers, Ms. McKinney, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mr. 
   Abercrombie, Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Brown of California, Mr. Dooley of 
California, Mr. Frost, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Hilliard, Mr. Lantos, and Mr. 
  Thompson) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
    Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on 
Economic and Educational Opportunities, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide private remedies for certain instances of sexual harassment, 
and to provide additional funding for the Equal Employment Opportunity 
                              Commission.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Sexual Harassment Prevention Act of 
1996''.

SEC. 2. CIVIL ACTION.

    (a) Generally.--Whoever (including a governmental entity), in or 
affecting interstate or foreign commerce--
            (1) engages in any sexual harassment; or
            (2) retaliates against any person for opposing sexual 
        harassment or filing a complaint, or otherwise participating in 
        any manner, in a civil action under paragraph (1);
shall be liable to the person injured by that harassment or retaliation 
for any appropriate relief, which may include money damages. In a civil 
action under this section, the court may award a prevailing plaintiff a 
reasonable attorneys' fee and other litigation expenses (including 
expert witness fees) as a part of the costs.
    (b) What Constitutes Sexual Harassment.--
            (1) Generally.--As used in this section, the term ``sexual 
        harassment'' means conduct described in paragraph (2) in a 
        relationship described in paragraph (3).
            (2) Conduct.--The conduct referred to in paragraph (1) is 
        an unwelcome sexual advance, unwelcome request for sexual 
        favors, or other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature where--
                    (A) submission to such conduct is either explicitly 
                or implicitly a term or condition of the relationship 
                described in paragraph (3);
                    (B) submission to or rejection of such conduct is 
                the basis for decisions or actions regarding the person 
                who submitted to or rejected that conduct; or
                    (C) such conduct has the purpose or effect of 
                unreasonably interfering with the relationship 
                described in paragraph (3) or creates an intimidating, 
                hostile, or offensive environment within that 
                relationship.
            (3) Relationship.--The relationship referred to in 
        paragraphs (1) and (2) is a relationship--
                    (A) between a patient and a physician, 
                psychotherapist, or dentist;
                    (B) between a client and an attorney, marriage, 
                family, or child counselor, social worker, or 
                accountant;
                    (C) between a beneficiary and an executor, trustee, 
                or administrator of a trust or estate;
                    (D) between an employee and an employer, if the 
                employer has fewer than 15 employees for each working 
                day in each of 33 or more calendar weeks in the current 
                and in the preceding calendar year; or
                    (E) between the parties to a contract or between 
                persons negotiating a contract or seeking to enforce 
                claimed rights under a contract.
    (c) Effective Date.--This Act shall take effect 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR THE EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY 
              COMMISSION.

    In addition to any other sums authorized to be appropriated to the 
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, there are authorized to be 
appropriated to such Commission $268,000,000 for fiscal year 1997, and 
such sums thereafter as may be necessary.
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