[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2078 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2078

   To amend title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to clarify the 
 intent of Congress to hold individuals responsible for discriminatory 
                 acts committed by them in employment.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 26, 1997

  Mr. Campbell (for himself, Mr. Canady of Florida, and Mr. Boucher) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                      Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to clarify the 
 intent of Congress to hold individuals responsible for discriminatory 
                 acts committed by them in employment.

    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 ``Individual Liability for 
Discrimination Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSE.

    Congress has always intended that individuals who discriminate in 
employment within the meaning of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 
1964 may be held individually liable for their actions, whether or not 
any other entity or individual is also liable. Courts have in general 
faithfully carried out this mandate. Recently, in sexual harassment 
cases in particular, some courts have failed to hold individuals liable 
for their discriminatory conduct that is otherwise clearly covered by 
title VII, on grounds that individuals cannot be held liable under it. 
This Act will prevent this misreading.

SEC. 3. INDIVIDUAL LIABILITY UNDER TITLE VII.

    Section 706 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e-5) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(l) Individuals are individually liable for acts of 
discrimination committed by them in employment, when the acts are 
otherwise covered by this title, whether or not any other party is also 
liable for their acts.''.

SEC. 4. NO REDUCTION IN EMPLOYER LIABILITY.

    Section 706 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e-5), as 
amended by section 3, is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(m) Nothing in subsection (l) shall be interpreted to reduce the 
responsibility of employers for discrimination in employment under this 
title, except that in awarding monetary relief against any party, a 
trier of fact may take into account the relief ordered against and 
actually collected from other parties.''.

SEC. 5. DEFINITION OF RESPONDENT CLARIFIED.

    Section 701(n) of the Civil Rights of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e) is 
amended to read as follows:
    ``(n) The term `respondent' means an employer, employee or agent of 
the employer (including individual employer, employee, or agent of the 
employer, employment agency, labor organization, joint labor-management 
committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining 
program, including an on-the-job training program, or Federal entity 
subject to section 717.''.

SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on 
the date of the enactment of this Act.
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