Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

General Assembly                        Raised Bill No. 385
       February Session, 2020                 LCO No. 2584
     Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
     Introduced by:
       (JUD)
 AN ACT CONCERNING THE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF
 THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND OPPORTUNITIES.
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
 Assembly convened:
       Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 46a-60 of the 2020 supplement to
    the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu
    thereof (Effective October 1, 2020):
       (b) It shall be a discriminatory practice in violation of this section:
      (1) For an employer, by the employer or the employer's agent, except
   in the case of a bona fide occupational qualification or need, to refuse to
   hire or employ or to bar or to discharge from employment any
   individual or to discriminate against such individual in compensation
   or in terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of the
   individual's race, color, religious creed, age, sex, gender identity or
   expression, marital status, national origin, ancestry, present or past
   history of mental disability, intellectual disability, learning disability,
   physical disability, including, but not limited to, blindness or status as a
   veteran;
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    (2) For any employment agency, except in the case of a bona fide
 occupational qualification or need, to fail or refuse to classify properly
 or refer for employment or otherwise to discriminate against any
 individual because of such individual's race, color, religious creed, age,
 sex, gender identity or expression, marital status, national origin,
 ancestry, present or past history of mental disability, intellectual
 disability, learning disability, physical disability, including, but not
 limited to, blindness or status as a veteran;
    (3) For a labor organization, because of the race, color, religious creed,
 age, sex, gender identity or expression, marital status, national origin,
 ancestry, present or past history of mental disability, intellectual
 disability, learning disability, physical disability, including, but not
 limited to, blindness or status as a veteran of any individual to exclude
 from full membership rights or to expel from its membership such
 individual or to discriminate in any way against any of its members or
 against any employer or any individual employed by an employer,
 unless such action is based on a bona fide occupational qualification;
    [(4) For any person, employer, labor organization or employment
 agency to discharge, expel or otherwise discriminate against any person
 because such person has opposed any discriminatory employment
 practice or because such person has filed a complaint or testified or
 assisted in any proceeding under section 46a-82, 46a-83 or 46a-84;
    (5) For any person, whether an employer or an employee or not, to
 aid, abet, incite, compel or coerce the doing of any act declared to be a
 discriminatory employment practice or to attempt to do so;]
    [(6)] (4) For any person, employer, employment agency or labor
 organization, except in the case of a bona fide occupational qualification
 or need, to advertise employment opportunities in such a manner as to
 restrict such employment so as to discriminate against individuals
 because of their race, color, religious creed, age, sex, gender identity or
 expression, marital status, national origin, ancestry, present or past
 history of mental disability, intellectual disability, learning disability,
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 physical disability, including, but not limited to, blindness or status as a
 veteran;
    [(7)] (5) For an employer, by the employer or the employer's agent:
 (A) To terminate a woman's employment because of her pregnancy; (B)
 to refuse to grant to that employee a reasonable leave of absence for
 disability resulting from her pregnancy; (C) to deny to that employee,
 who is disabled as a result of pregnancy, any compensation to which
 she is entitled as a result of the accumulation of disability or leave
 benefits accrued pursuant to plans maintained by the employer; (D) to
 fail or refuse to reinstate the employee to her original job or to an
 equivalent position with equivalent pay and accumulated seniority,
 retirement, fringe benefits and other service credits upon her signifying
 her intent to return unless, in the case of a private employer, the
 employer's circumstances have so changed as to make it impossible or
 unreasonable to do so; (E) to limit, segregate or classify the employee in
 a way that would deprive her of employment opportunities due to her
 pregnancy; (F) to discriminate against an employee or person seeking
 employment on the basis of her pregnancy in the terms or conditions of
 her employment; (G) to fail or refuse to make a reasonable
 accommodation for an employee or person seeking employment due to
 her pregnancy, unless the employer can demonstrate that such
 accommodation would impose an undue hardship on such employer;
 (H) to deny employment opportunities to an employee or person
 seeking employment if such denial is due to the employee's request for
 a reasonable accommodation due to her pregnancy; (I) to force an
 employee or person seeking employment affected by pregnancy to
 accept a reasonable accommodation if such employee or person seeking
 employment (i) does not have a known limitation related to her
 pregnancy, or (ii) does not require a reasonable accommodation to
 perform the essential duties related to her employment; (J) to require an
 employee to take a leave of absence if a reasonable accommodation can
 be provided in lieu of such leave; and (K) to retaliate against an
 employee in the terms, conditions or privileges of her employment
 based upon such employee's request for a reasonable accommodation;
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    [(8)] (6) For an employer, by the employer or the employer's agent,
 for an employment agency, by itself or its agent, or for any labor
 organization, by itself or its agent, to harass any employee, person
 seeking employment or member on the basis of sex or gender identity
 or expression. If an employer takes immediate corrective action in
 response to an employee's claim of sexual harassment, such corrective
 action shall not modify the conditions of employment of the employee
 making the claim of sexual harassment unless such employee agrees, in
 writing, to any modification in the conditions of employment.
 "Corrective action" taken by an employer, includes, but is not limited to,
 employee relocation, assigning an employee to a different work
 schedule or other substantive changes to an employee's terms and
 conditions of employment. Notwithstanding an employer's failure to
 obtain a written agreement from an employee concerning a modification
 in the conditions of employment, the commission may find that
 corrective action taken by an employer was reasonable and not of
 detriment to the complainant based on the evidence presented to the
 commission by the complainant and respondent. As used in this
 subdivision, "sexual harassment" means any unwelcome sexual
 advances or requests for sexual favors or any conduct of a sexual nature
 when (A) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or
 implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment, (B)
 submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as
 the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or (C)
 such conduct has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with
 an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or
 offensive working environment;
    [(9)] (7) For an employer, by the employer or the employer's agent,
 for an employment agency, by itself or its agent, or for any labor
 organization, by itself or its agent, to request or require information
 from an employee, person seeking employment or member relating to
 the individual's child-bearing age or plans, pregnancy, function of the
 individual's reproductive system, use of birth control methods, or the
 individual's familial responsibilities, unless such information is directly
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 related to a bona fide occupational qualification or need, provided an
 employer, through a physician may request from an employee any such
 information which is directly related to workplace exposure to
 substances which may cause birth defects or constitute a hazard to an
 individual's reproductive system or to a fetus if the employer first
 informs the employee of the hazards involved in exposure to such
 substances;
    [(10)] (8) For an employer, by the employer or the employer's agent,
 after informing an employee, pursuant to subdivision [(9)] (7) of this
 subsection, of a workplace exposure to substances which may cause
 birth defects or constitute a hazard to an employee's reproductive
 system or to a fetus, to fail or refuse, upon the employee's request, to
 take reasonable measures to protect the employee from the exposure or
 hazard identified, or to fail or refuse to inform the employee that the
 measures taken may be the subject of a complaint filed under the
 provisions of this chapter. Nothing in this subdivision is intended to
 prohibit an employer from taking reasonable measures to protect an
 employee from exposure to such substances. For the purpose of this
 subdivision, "reasonable measures" shall be those measures which are
 consistent with business necessity and are least disruptive of the terms
 and conditions of the employee's employment;
    [(11)] (9) For an employer, by the employer or the employer's agent,
 for an employment agency, by itself or its agent, or for any labor
 organization, by itself or its agent: (A) To request or require genetic
 information from an employee, person seeking employment or member,
 or (B) to discharge, expel or otherwise discriminate against any person
 on the basis of genetic information. For the purpose of this subdivision,
 "genetic information" means the information about genes, gene
 products or inherited characteristics that may derive from an individual
 or a family member.
   Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2020) It shall be a discriminatory
 practice in violation of this section for any person to: (1) Discriminate
 against any other person because such other person has opposed any
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 discriminatory practice or because such other person has filed a
 complaint or testified or assisted in any proceeding under section 46a-
 82, 46a-83 or 46a-84, as amended by this act; and (2) aid, abet, incite,
 compel or coerce the doing of any act declared to be a discriminatory
 practice or to attempt to do so.
    Sec. 3. Subparagraph (A) of subdivision (4) of subsection (b) of section
 46a-68 of the 2020 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the
 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2020):
    (4) (A) Each person designated by a state agency, department, board
 or commission as an equal employment opportunity officer shall (i) be
 responsible for mitigating any discriminatory conduct within the
 agency, department, board or commission, (ii) investigate all complaints
 of discrimination made against the state agency, department, board or
 commission, [except if any such complaint has been filed with the
 Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities or the Equal
 Employment Opportunity Commission, the state agency, department,
 board or commission may rely upon the process of the applicable
 commission, as applicable, in lieu of such investigation,] and (iii) report
 all findings and recommendations upon the conclusion of an
 investigation to the commissioner or director of the state agency,
 department, board or commission for proper action. An equal
 employment opportunity officer shall not disclose witness statements or
 documents received or compiled in conjunction with the investigation
 of a complaint of discriminatory conduct within the agency,
 department, board or commission until the conclusion of such
 investigation, except that witness statements or documents may be
 disclosed to personnel charged with investigating or adjudicating such
 complaint, or to the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.
    Sec. 4. Subsection (b) of section 46a-84 of the 2020 supplement to the
 general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu
 thereof (Effective October 1, 2020):
   (b) Upon (1) certification of a complaint filed pursuant to subsection
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 (a) or (b) of section 46a-82, (2) the filing of a complaint pursuant to
 subsection (c) of said section, or (3) a decision to hear a complaint, which
 is made pursuant to subsection (e) of section 46a-83, the Chief Human
 Rights Referee shall appoint a human rights referee to act as a presiding
 officer to hear the complaint. The chief referee shall also appoint an
 individual authorized by subsection (e) of this section or a referee, other
 than the referee appointed to hear the complaint, to conduct settlement
 negotiations. The chief referee shall serve in the name of the commission
 and in accordance with section 46a-86a a copy of the complaint, as the
 same may have been amended, requiring the respondent to answer the
 charges of the complaint, together with a written notice requiring the
 respondent to appear at a hearing or settlement conference at a date and
 time specified in the notice. A hearing on a complaint filed pursuant to
 subsection (a) or (b) of section 46a-82 shall be commenced by convening
 a hearing conference not later than forty-five days after the certification
 of the complaint. Such hearing shall be a de novo hearing on the merits
 of the complaint and not an appeal of the commission's processing of
 the complaint prior to its certification. A hearing on a complaint filed
 pursuant to subsection (c) of section 46a-82 shall be commenced by
 convening a hearing conference not later than twenty days after the date
 of notice of such complaint. Hearings shall proceed with reasonable
 dispatch and be concluded in accordance with the provisions of section
 4-180.
    Sec. 5. Section 46a-89 of the general statutes is repealed and the
 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2020):
    (a) (1) Whenever a complaint filed pursuant to section 46a-82 alleges
 a violation of section 46a-60, as amended by this act, or 46a-81c, and the
 executive director believes that equitable relief is required to prevent
 irreparable harm to the complainant, the commission may bring a
 petition in the superior court for the judicial district of Hartford, the
 judicial district in which the discriminatory practice which is the subject
 of the complaint occurred or the judicial district in which the respondent
 resides, provided this subdivision shall not apply to complaints against
 employers with less than fifty employees.
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   (2) The petition shall seek appropriate temporary injunctive relief
 against the respondent pending final disposition of the complaint
 pursuant to the procedures set forth in this chapter. The injunctive relief
 may include an order temporarily restraining the respondent from
 doing any act that would render ineffectual any order a presiding officer
 may render with respect to the complaint.
    (3) Upon service on the respondent of notice pursuant to section 46a-
 89a, the respondent shall be temporarily restrained from taking any
 action that would render ineffectual the temporary injunctive relief
 requested in the petition, provided nothing in this section shall be
 construed to prevent the respondent from having any employment
 duties enjoined under this section and section 46a-89a, from being
 carried out by another employee and the notice shall so provide.
    (b) (1) Whenever a complaint filed pursuant to section 46a-82 alleges
 a violation of section 46a-64, 46a-64c, 46a-81d or 46a-81e, and the
 [commission] executive director believes that injunctive relief is
 required or that the imposition of punitive damages or a civil penalty
 would be appropriate, the commission may bring a petition in the
 superior court for the judicial district of Hartford, the j