[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8618 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8618
To require annual reporting by employers to the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission of the number of settlements of employee claims
of discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex
(including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), age (40
or older), disability, genetic information (including family medical
history), or any combination of such factors, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 29, 2022
Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York (for herself, Mr. Carson, Mr.
Garcia of Illinois, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Grijalva, Mrs. Hayes, Mr. Jones, Mr.
Lynch, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Nadler, Ms. Norton, Mr. Pocan, Ms.
Porter, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Takano, Ms.
Titus, and Ms. Velazquez) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Education and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require annual reporting by employers to the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission of the number of settlements of employee claims
of discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex
(including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), age (40
or older), disability, genetic information (including family medical
history), or any combination of such factors, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Ending Secrecy
About Workplace Harassment Act''.
(b) Findings.--Congress finds that the following:
(1) Thirty years after the United States Supreme Court held
in Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson that workplace harassment
creates a hostile or abusive work environment and is a
violation of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, sexual
harassment remains a widespread problem, affecting victims in
every industry, at every level of employment.
(2) In fiscal year 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (in this Act referred to as the ``Commission'')
received 67,448 charges of workplace discrimination. The most
frequently cited claim was retaliation with 37,632 charges,
which made up 55.8 percent of all charges filed. This was
followed by disability with 24,324 charges (36.1 percent), race
with 22,064 charges (32.7 percent), sex with 21,398 charges
(31.7 percent), age with 14,183 charges (21.0 percent),
national origin with 6,377 charges (9.5 percent), color with
3,562 charges (5.3 percent), religion with 2,404 charges (3.6
percent), and genetic information with 440 charges (0.7
percent).
(3) An analysis of the Commission's charge data between
2012 and 2016 shows that many individuals experience multiple
bases of harassment. For example, 1 in 17 women who filed
sexual harassment charges during this period experienced
racialized sexual harassment, or harassment based not only on
their sex but also their race. In addition, over 35 percent of
women also alleged retaliation.
(4) According to the Commission's Select Task Force in
2016, on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace, the
prevalence of workplace harassment, and in particular sexual
harassment--
(A) causes mental and physical harm to the victim,
which can include symptoms of depression, general
stress and anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), and overall impaired psychological well-being;
and
(B) results in mental and physical harms to those
that observe or perceive mistreatment in the workplace,
as one study concluded ``employees, female and male
alike, who observed hostility directed toward female
coworkers (both incivility and sexually harassing
behavior) were more likely to experience lower
psychological well-being'', which were ``in turn linked
to lower physical well-being''.
(5) Prevalence of harassment in the workplace causes
substantial financial harm to victims, as they often try to
avoid the harassing behavior by taking leave without pay or
leaving the workplace entirely, resulting in a loss of wages.
The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board's 1995 report on Sexual
Harassment in the Federal Workplace found sexual harassment
cost Federal employees $4,400,000 between 1992 and 1994.
(6) According to Commission records, in fiscal year 2020,
the Commission secured $439,200,000 for victims of
discrimination in the private sector and State and local
government workplaces through voluntary resolutions and
litigation.
(7) The Commission is responsible for enforcing Federal
anti-discrimination laws that protect job applicants and
employees, and has the authority to investigate charges of
discrimination against employers who are covered by the law.
SEC. 2. EMPLOYER REPORTING REQUIREMENT.
(a) Reporting Requirement.--Every employer required to submit to
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission an Employer Information
Report EEO-1 shall submit annually a separate report that specifies the
total number of settlements reached by the employer with employees
involving workplace harassment and the number of such settlements in
each of following categories:
(1) Settlements relating to harassment based on race,
color, or national origin.
(2) Settlements relating to harassment based on religion.
(3) Settlements relating to harassment based on sex
(including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity).
(4) Settlements relating to harassment based on age (40 or
older).
(5) Settlements relating to harassment based on disability.
(6) Settlements relating to harassment based on genetic
information (including family medical history).
(7) Settlements relating to harassment based on any
combination of the harassment described in paragraphs (1)
through (6).
(b) Required Reporting.--Examples of settlements required to be
reported under this section include any written or oral agreement where
anything of value is conferred to an individual because of an
allegation that the individual has been a victim of workplace
harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex
(including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), age (40
or older), disability, genetic information (including family medical
history), any combination of such factors in return for such individual
declining to further pursue resolution of the allegation through
litigation or any internal process, mediation, or other workplace
resolution.
SEC. 3. RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES.
(a) Protection From Retaliation.--
(1) Conduct prohibited.--An employer may not terminate any
employee nor discriminate against any such employee with
regards to terms and conditions of employment because such
employee--
(A) inquires about an employer's meeting of the
requirements of this Act; or
(B) complains about an employer's failure to meet
the requirements of this Act.
(2) Enforcement.--
(A) Liability.--In addition to civil rights
protections and remedies for retaliation available
under other Federal, State, or local law, any employer
who violates paragraph (1) shall be liable to any
eligible employee affected for--
(i) damages equal to the amount of any
wages, salary, employment benefits, or other
compensation denied or lost to such employee by
reason of the violation;
(ii) the interest on the amount described
in clause (i) calculated at the prevailing
rate;
(iii) an additional amount as liquidated
damages equal to the sum of the amount
described in clause (i) and the interest
described in clause (ii); and
(iv) such equitable relief as may be
appropriate, including employment,
reinstatement, and promotion.
(B) Right of action.--An action to recover the
damages or equitable relief prescribed in subparagraph
(A) may be maintained against any employer in any
Federal or State court of competent jurisdiction by any
one or more employees for and on behalf of--
(i) the employee or employees; or
(ii) the employees and other employees
similarly situated.
(C) Fees and costs.--The court in such an action
shall, in addition to any judgment awarded to the
plaintiff, allow a reasonable attorney's fee,
reasonable expert witness fees, and other costs of the
action to be paid by the defendant.
(b) Confidentiality Agreements and Settlements.--
(1) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be
construed to interfere with the right of an employee to enter
into a confidentiality agreement with the employee's employer
with respect to a claim of discrimination based on race, color,
national origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual
orientation, gender identity), age (40 or older), disability,
genetic information (including family medical history), or any
combination of such factors, the investigation of such a claim,
or the out-of-court settlement of such a claim.
(2) Limitations on agreements.--
(A) An employer may not use a confidentiality
agreement described in paragraph (1) as a basis for not
submitting the information required by section 2.
(B) A confidentiality agreement described in
paragraph (1) shall not be construed as prohibiting any
party to such agreement from cooperating with law
enforcement investigations into any claims of
discrimination based on race, color, national origin,
religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation,
gender identity), age (40 or older), disability,
genetic information (including family medical history),
or any combination of such factors.
SEC. 4. EEOC REPORT TO CONGRESS.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shall annually report
to Congress information relating to claims of discrimination based on
race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy,
sexual orientation, or gender identity), age (40 or older), disability,
genetic information (including family medical history), and any
combination of such factors, including--
(1) the number of settlements that were reported to the
Commission as defined by and reported pursuant to section 2;
(2) the number of charges alleging discrimination based on
race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including
pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), age (40 or
older), disability, genetic information (including family
medical history), and any combination of such factors that were
reported to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission;
(3) a summary of any action taken by the Commission based
upon any such charges or complaints collected pursuant to this
Act, such as litigation or settlements facilitated by the
Commission pertaining to discrimination based on race, color,
national origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual
orientation, or gender identity), age (40 or older),
disability, genetic information (including family medical
history), and any combination of such factors, including a
brief description of any outcome of such actions; and
(4) a summary of mechanisms the Commission can take to
increase public transparency of this data by individual
employer without sacrificing the identities of the victims.
SEC. 5. GAO STUDY AND REPORT.
The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a
comprehensive study of claims of discrimination based on race, color,
national origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual
orientation, or gender identity), age (40 or older), disability,
genetic information (including family medical history), or any
combination of such factors involving both government and private
sector employees and shall report to Congress not later than one year
after the date of enactment of this Act the results of such study and
recommendations for legislation or other action for improving
transparency and accountability regarding such claims.
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