II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4902 

To prevent discrimination, including harassment, in employment. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2024 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. BROWN, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. BUTLER, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. DURBIN, 

Mr. FETTERMAN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. KAINE, Ms. 

KLOBUCHAR, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. PADILLA, 

Mr. SANDERS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and 

Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To prevent discrimination, including harassment, in 

employment. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bringing an End to 

5 Harassment by Enhancing Accountability and Rejecting 

6 Discrimination in the Workplace Act’’ or the ‘‘BE 

7 HEARD in the Workplace Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 The table of contents of this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title. 

Sec. 2. Table of contents. 

Sec. 3. Purposes. 

TITLE I—RESEARCHING AND PREVENTING WORKPLACE 

DISCRIMINATION, INCLUDING HARASSMENT; TIPPED EMPLOYEES 

Sec. 100. Definitions. 

Subtitle A—Preventing Workplace Discrimination, Including Harassment 

Sec. 101. Mandatory nondiscrimination policies. 

Sec. 102. Nondiscrimination training. 

Sec. 103. Resource materials on policies and trainings for small businesses. 

Sec. 104. Education, training, and technical assistance to employers. 

Sec. 105. Task force regarding harassment. 

Sec. 106. Resource materials on employment climate assessments. 

Sec. 107. Establishing an Office of Education and Outreach within the Equal 

Employment Opportunity Commission. 

Sec. 108. Relationship to other laws. 

Sec. 109. Authorization of appropriations. 

Subtitle B—Research and Additional Resources for Harassment Prevention 

Sec. 111. National prevalence survey on harassment in employment. 

Sec. 112. Study and report on harassment in the Federal Government. 

Sec. 113. Studies, reports, and further research. 

Subtitle C—Preventing Harassment of Tipped Employees 

Sec. 121. Tipped employees. 

TITLE II—STRENGTHENING WORKPLACE RIGHTS 

Sec. 201. Clarifying sexual orientation discrimination and gender identity discrimination are unlawful sex discrimination. 

Sec. 202. Covered employers. 

Sec. 203. Compensatory and punitive damages available. 

Sec. 204. Discrimination, including harassment; standards of proof. 

Sec. 205. Clarifying other standards of proof. 

Sec. 206. Supervisor liability. 

Sec. 207. Extending the statutes of limitations. 

Sec. 208. Extending the time limitations on Federal employees filing a complaint. 

TITLE III—BROADENING PROTECTIONS AND ENSURING 

TRANSPARENCY 

Sec. 301. Independent contractors, interns, fellows, volunteers, and trainees. 

Sec. 302. Nondisclosure agreements. 

Sec. 303. Prohibition on mandatory arbitration and protection of concerted 

legal action. 

Sec. 304. Federal contractor compliance with labor and civil rights laws. 


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TITLE IV—NATIONWIDE GRANTS TO PREVENT AND RESPOND TO 

WORKPLACE DISCRIMINATION, INCLUDING HARASSMENT 

Sec. 401. Definitions. 

Subtitle A—National Grants for Preventing and Addressing Employment 

Discrimination, Including Harassment 

Sec. 411. Definitions. 

Sec. 412. Grants. 

Sec. 413. Authorization of appropriations. 

Subtitle B—Grants for Legal Assistance for Low-Income Workers 

Sec. 421. Definitions. 

Sec. 422. Grants for civil legal needs related to employment discrimination. 

Sec. 423. Authorization of appropriations. 

Subtitle C—Grants for a System of State Advocacy 

Sec. 431. Purpose. 

Sec. 432. Definitions. 

Sec. 433. Allotments and payments. 

Sec. 434. System required. 

Sec. 435. Administration. 

Sec. 436. Authorization of appropriations. 

TITLE V—GENERAL PROVISIONS 

Sec. 501. Severability. 

1 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

2 The purposes of this Act are— 

3 (1) to prevent and reduce prohibited discrimina4 tion, including harassment, in employment; 

5 (2) to prevent and reduce discriminatory, in6 cluding harassing, conduct in the workplace; 

7 (3) to identify and implement best practices in 

8 creating a workplace free from discrimination, in9 cluding harassment; 

10 (4) to update and clarify certain employment 

11 nondiscrimination laws; and 


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1 (5) to expand workers’ access to counsel and 

2 advocacy services to protect the legal and human 

3 rights of workers by preventing and reducing dis4 crimination, including harassment, and responding 

5 to violations of worker’s rights. 

6 TITLE I—RESEARCHING AND 

7 PREVENTING WORKPLACE 

8 DISCRIMINATION, INCLUDING 

9 HARASSMENT; TIPPED EM10 PLOYEES 

11 SEC. 100. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In subtitles A and B: 

13 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

14 means the Equal Employment Opportunity Commis15 sion. 

16 (2) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’ has the 

17 meaning given the term in section 701 of the Civil 

18 Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e), as amended 

19 by section 202 of this Act. 

20 Subtitle A—Preventing Workplace 

21 Discrimination, Including Har22 assment 

23 SEC. 101. MANDATORY NONDISCRIMINATION POLICIES. 

24 (a) POLICIES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 1 

2 year after the date of enactment of this Act, each 

3 employer who has 15 or more employees shall adopt, 

4 maintain, and periodically review a comprehensive 

5 nondiscrimination policy, which shall establish poli6 cies and procedures concerning prohibited discrimi7 nation, including harassment, in employment. 

8 (2) DISSEMINATION AND POSTING.—The em9 ployer shall disseminate the comprehensive non10 discrimination policy to each employee at the begin11 ning of employment, annually, and on the issuance 

12 of any update to the comprehensive nondiscrimina13 tion policy. The employer shall post the comprehen14 sive nondiscrimination policy in prominent locations, 

15 including in a prominent location on the employer’s 

16 website. 

17 (b) CONTENTS.—At a minimum, the comprehensive 

18 nondiscrimination policy shall include— 

19 (1) a definition of prohibited discrimination, in20 cluding harassment, in employment; 

21 (2) a description of the types of behaviors pro22 hibited by the policy; 

23 (3) the identification of multiple individuals to 

24 whom an employee may report such discrimination, 

25 and the contact information for those individuals; 


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1 (4) a description of multiple methods for re2 porting such discrimination; 

3 (5) a general description of how the employer 

4 will conduct prompt, thorough, and impartial inves5 tigations and respond to complaints regarding such 

6 discrimination; 

7 (6) a prohibition against retaliation related to 

8 such discrimination, including disclosing, reporting, 

9 or challenging such discrimination; 

10 (7) a description of the confidentiality protec11 tions available for such discrimination complaints; 

12 (8) a description of potential consequences for 

13 violating the policy; and 

14 (9) any additional components required by the 

15 Commission for the purpose of preventing such dis16 crimination. 

17 (c) ACCESSIBILITY.—The comprehensive non18 discrimination policy shall be made available in plain 

19 English and in an accessible manner for individuals with 

20 disabilities and for individuals who primarily speak a lan21 guage other than English. 

22 (d) ENFORCEMENT.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), an 

24 employer who fails to comply with this section shall 


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1 be fined not more than $1,000 for each separate of2 fense. 

3 (2) REPEATED OR WILLFUL VIOLATIONS.—An 

4 employer who repeatedly or willfully fails to comply 

5 with this section shall be fined not less than $5,000 

6 for each separate offense. 

7 (e) REGULATIONS.—The Commission shall have au8 thority to promulgate regulations to carry out this section. 

9 SEC. 102. NONDISCRIMINATION TRAINING. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall promulgate 

11 regulations— 

12 (1) to require appropriate employers, as deter13 mined by the Commission, to provide— 

14 (A) in-person or other interactive training 

15 for each employee regarding discriminatory, in16 cluding harassing, behaviors in employment; 

17 and 

18 (B) training specifically designed for su19 pervisors regarding the prevention of and re20 sponse to discrimination (including harassment) 

21 in employment, including retaliation; and 

22 (2) to identify specific elements of such train23 ing. 


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1 (b) REQUIRED TRAINING.—The requirements de2 scribed in subsection (a) shall be based on research on 

3 effective training. 

4 (c) ENFORCEMENT.—The Commission shall issue 

5 remedies for noncompliance by regulation. 

6 SEC. 103. RESOURCE MATERIALS ON POLICIES AND 

7 TRAININGS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

9 date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall make 

10 publicly available resource materials on comprehensive 

11 nondiscrimination policies and trainings on such policies 

12 for employers with fewer than 15 employees. 

13 (b) CONTENTS.—Such resource materials shall in14 clude, at a minimum— 

15 (1) model comprehensive nondiscrimination 

16 policies concerning prohibited discrimination, includ17 ing harassment, in employment, as described in sec18 tion 101, for use by employers with fewer than 15 

19 employees, which shall— 

20 (A) be designed to be easily distributed by 

21 such employers to employees; 

22 (B) take into account the resources avail23 able to such employers; 

24 (C) take into account the particular needs 

25 of employees of such employers; 


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1 (D) be made available in plain English and 

2 in accessible formats for individuals with dis3 abilities and for individuals who primarily speak 

4 a language other than English; 

5 (E) include a definition of prohibited dis6 crimination, including harassment, in employ7 ment; 

8 (F) include examples of prohibited dis9 criminatory, including harassing, behaviors; 

10 (G) describe how the employer may con11 duct prompt, thorough, and impartial investiga12 tions and respond to complaints regarding such 

13 prohibited discrimination; 

14 (H) include a prohibition against retalia15 tion related to such discrimination; 

16 (I) include policies that reflect the needs of 

17 a variety of different types of workplaces, in18 cluding those with differing work structures, fa19 cilities, or tasks; 

20 (J) describe behaviors that would con21 stitute retaliation; and 

22 (K) include a description of potential con23 sequences for violating the comprehensive non24 discrimination policy; and 


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1 (2) model trainings regarding prohibited dis2 crimination, including harassment, in employment, 

3 as described in section 102, for use by employers 

4 with fewer than 15 employees, which shall— 

5 (A) take into account the resources avail6 able to such employers; 

7 (B) take into account the particular needs 

8 of employees of such employers; 

9 (C) be made available in plain English and 

10 in accessible formats for individuals with dis11 abilities and for individuals who primarily speak 

12 a language other than English; 

13 (D) be made available in an online format 

14 that is widely available to such employers and 

15 employees of such employers; 

16 (E) include an explanation of prohibited 

17 discrimination, including harassment, in em18 ployment, including retaliation related to such 

19 discrimination; 

20 (F) describe the affirmative behaviors that 

21 contribute to preventing and reducing discrimi22 nation, including harassment, in employment; 

23 (G) include trainings designed to address 

24 the needs of a variety of workplaces, including 


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1 those with differing work structures, facilities, 

2 and tasks; 

3 (H) include best practices for preventing 

4 prohibited discrimination, including harassment, 

5 specific to industries in which the Commission 

6 determines that discrimination, including har7 assment, is particularly prevalent or severe; and 

8 (I) include any additional information the 

9 Commission determines may prevent discrimi10 nation, including harassment, of employees. 

11 (c) INDIVIDUALIZATION.—The Commission shall en12 sure that resource materials under this section are de13 signed to facilitate individual employers to customize 

14 training to address the needs of their workplaces, includ15 ing differing work structures, facilities, and tasks. 

16 SEC. 104. EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND TECHNICAL ASSIST17 ANCE TO EMPLOYERS. 

18 The Commission shall have the authority to— 

19 (1) reasonably adjust the fees the Commission 

20 charges for any education, technical assistance, or 

21 training the Commission offers through the Tech22 nical Assistance Training Institute established in ac23 cordance with section 705(j)(1) of the Civil Rights 

24 Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–4(j)(1)); 


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1 (2) use the materials developed by the Commis2 sion for any education, technical assistance, or train3 ing offered by the Commission in accordance with 

4 that section in any education and outreach activities 

5 carried out by the Commission; and 

6 (3) use funds from the Commission’s EEOC 

7 Education, Technical Assistance, and Training Re8 volving Fund, established under section 705(k) of 

9 the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e– 

10 4(k)), to pay the full salaries of any Commission em11 ployees that develop and administer any education, 

12 technical assistance, or training programs offered by 

13 the Commission in connection with activities under 

14 this Act. 

15 SEC. 105. TASK FORCE REGARDING HARASSMENT. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall establish 

17 and periodically convene a harassment prevention task 

18 force (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Task Force’’) to 

19 study prohibited harassment in employment. 

20 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force established 

21 under subsection (a) shall include membership that re22 flects a broad diversity of experience and expertise relating 

23 to prohibited harassment, including— 

24 (1) employee advocates; 


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1 (2) researchers with expertise in organizational 

2 culture change or reducing behavior related to har3 assment; 

4 (3) legal practitioners with professional exper5 tise related to harassment litigation on behalf of em6 ployees; 

7 (4) legal practitioners with experience serving 

8 as a chief legal officer or human resource officer in 

9 a corporate legal department; 

10 (5) individuals with expertise in diversity and 

11 inclusion initiatives; 

12 (6) individuals who have experienced prohibited 

13 harassment in employment; and 

14 (7) labor organization leaders. 

15 (c) DUTIES.—The Task Force shall— 

16 (1) identify strategies and recommend proposals 

17 to prevent prohibited harassment in employment; 

18 and 

19 (2) provide guidance on effective strategies to 

20 prevent prohibited harassment that are specific to 

21 industries in which the Task Force determines that 

22 harassment is particularly prevalent or severe. 

23 (d) REPORT.—Not less than once every 5 years, the 

24 Commission shall prepare and publish a report on the 


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1 Commission’s website, which shall be based on the work 

2 of the Task Force and shall include— 

3 (1) a review of the prevalence of prohibited har4 assment in employment, including the results of the 

5 national prevalence survey described in section 111; 

6 (2) recommendations for Federal, State, and 

7 local initiatives, reforms, and legislation to prevent 

8 prohibited harassment in employment; 

9 (3) assessments of the effectiveness of employ10 ment policies designed to prevent prohibited harass11 ment in employment by changing behavior and cul12 ture; 

13 (4) assessments of the effectiveness of processes 

14 for investigations into prohibited harassment in em15 ployment; 

16 (5) assessments of the effectiveness of different 

17 types of training to reduce and prevent harassment 

18 in employment; and 

19 (6) assessments of the effectiveness of other 

20 proactive initiatives and interventions to reduce and 

21 prevent harassment in employment. 

22 SEC. 106. RESOURCE MATERIALS ON EMPLOYMENT CLI23 MATE ASSESSMENTS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

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1 velop and make publicly available resource materials for 

2 employers on assessing the employment climate, including 

3 the occurrence of prohibited harassment in employment, 

4 in order to assist such employers in determining the effec5 tiveness of measures the employer takes to prevent and 

6 address prohibited harassment in employment. 

7 (b) EMPLOYMENT CLIMATE SURVEY.—Such resource 

8 materials shall include a model survey regarding prohib9 ited harassment in employment, which shall be available 

10 for an employer to use (at the employer’s discretion and 

11 employer’s expense) in order to assess the employment cli12 mate. The model survey shall be— 

13 (1) designed to assess employees’ experiences 

14 related to prohibited harassment in employment; 

15 (2) fair, unbiased, and scientifically valid to the 

16 greatest extent practicable; 

17 (3) designed to solicit confidential submissions 

18 and to provide data without revealing personally 

19 identifiable information; and 

20 (4) inclusive of individuals required to be af21 forded protection under section 301. 

22 (c) CONTENTS.—The model survey may include— 

23 (1) questions designed to assess the prevalence 

24 of prohibited harassment in employment; 


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1 (2) questions designed to understand whether 

2 employees have access to and are familiar with the 

3 employer’s nondiscrimination, including anti-harass4 ment, policies and procedures; 

5 (3) questions to assess the employment climate; 

6 and 

7 (4) any additional questions the Commission 

8 determines are consistent with the purposes of this 

9 section. 

10 (d) MANDATORY EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION PRO11 HIBITED.—An employer may not compel or require em12 ployees to participate in a survey regarding prohibited dis13 crimination, including harassment, in employment. 

14 (e) REVIEW AND REVISION.—The Commission shall 

15 periodically review and revise the resource materials de16 scribed in subsection (a) and the model survey developed 

17 under subsection (b). 

18 SEC. 107. ESTABLISHING AN OFFICE OF EDUCATION AND 

19 OUTREACH WITHIN THE EQUAL EMPLOY20 MENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall establish 

22 and maintain an Office of Education and Outreach to— 

23 (1) conduct outreach and education concerning 

24 prohibited discrimination, including harassment, in 

25 employment under Federal civil rights laws and 


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1 available resources and remedies relating to those 

2 laws; and 

3 (2) conduct a multi-year public awareness cam4 paign to improve public awareness of the Commis5 sion, which shall include disseminating information 

6 about— 

7 (A) the purpose of the Commission; 

8 (B) the resources available through the 

9 Commission to prevent prohibited discrimina10 tion, including harassment, in employment; 

11 (C) the ways in which an individual can 

12 file a complaint with the Commission; and 

13 (D) the process by which the Commission 

14 investigates charges of discrimination. 

15 (b) INFORMATION DISSEMINATED.—The information 

16 disseminated in accordance with subsection (a)(2) shall be 

17 made available in plain English and in an accessible man18 ner for individuals with disabilities and for individuals who 

19 primarily speak a language other than English. 

20 SEC. 108. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS. 

21 Compliance with section 101 or 102, or use of mate22 rials provided under this subtitle, is not an affirmative de23 fense under applicable employment nondiscrimination 

24 laws. 


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1 SEC. 109. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Com3 mission such sums as may be necessary to carry out the 

4 Commission’s duties and activities, including such duties 

5 and activities authorized under this subtitle. 

6 Subtitle B—Research and Addi7 tional Resources for Harass8 ment Prevention 

9 SEC. 111. NATIONAL PREVALENCE SURVEY ON HARASS10 MENT IN EMPLOYMENT. 

11 (a) SURVEY.—The Bureau of the Census, the Com12 mission, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics shall jointly 

13 develop a national prevalence survey on the prevalence of 

14 prohibited harassment in employment (referred to in this 

15 section as the ‘‘national prevalence survey’’). Such survey 

16 shall be administered by the Bureau of the Census not 

17 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 

18 and every 3 years thereafter. 

19 (b) CONTENTS.—The national prevalence survey 

20 shall include questions designed to collect such informa21 tion from individuals as may be necessary to examine ex22 isting beliefs, attitudes, and understanding of prohibited 

23 harassment in employment, and the extent to which such 

24 harassment is experienced or observed by individuals, su25 pervisors, and employers, including the information nec26 essary for the report described in subsection (c). 


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1 (c) REPORT.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months 

3 after each national prevalence survey has been ad4 ministered, the Bureau of the Census, the Commis5 sion, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics shall jointly 

6 prepare and submit to the Committee on Health, 

7 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and 

8 the Committee on Education and the Workforce of 

9 the House of Representatives a report on the results 

10 of that survey. 

11 (2) REQUIRED INFORMATION.—The report 

12 under this subsection shall include, at minimum— 

13 (A) information about the extent to which 

14 individuals experience prohibited harassment in 

15 employment on the basis of sex (including sex16 ual orientation, gender identity, sex stereotype, 

17 sex characteristics, and pregnancy, childbirth, 

18 or related medical conditions), race, color, reli19 gion, national origin, age, disability, genetic in20 formation, and uniformed service status, and 

21 information about the interaction of different 

22 characteristics that may be the basis of harass23 ment in employment; 

24 (B) information about the prevalence of 

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1 ployment, disaggregated by industry and salary 

2 level, including across all wage bands; and 

3 (C) an analysis of the economic impacts of 

4 prohibited harassment. 

5 (3) DISAGGREGATION OF SEX-BASED HARASS6 MENT.—The report under this subsection shall sepa7 rately, and in the aggregate, report each of the fol8 lowing bases of sex harassment: 

9 (A) Sexual orientation. 

10 (B) Gender identity. 

11 (C) Pregnancy. 

12 (D) Childbirth. 

13 (E) A medical condition related to preg14 nancy or childbirth. 

15 (F) A sex stereotype. 

16 (G) Sexual in nature. 

17 (4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The report shall be 

18 made publicly available on the websites of the Bu19 reau of the Census, the Commission, and the Bureau 

20 of Labor Statistics. 

21 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated for the Bureau of the 

23 Census to carry out this section such sums as may be nec24 essary for each fiscal year the national prevalence survey 


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1 is to be administered under subsection (a) or the report 

2 is to be submitted under subsection (c). 

3 SEC. 112. STUDY AND REPORT ON HARASSMENT IN THE 

4 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

6 date of enactment of this Act, and not less than once every 

7 3 years thereafter, the Merit Systems Protection Board 

8 shall prepare and submit to the Committee on Health, 

9 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the 

10 Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House 

11 of Representatives a report containing the following infor12 mation: 

13 (1) The prevalence of specific behaviors associ14 ated with prohibited harassment in employment 

15 among Federal employees, including information 

16 about such behaviors disaggregated by each wage 

17 band. 

18 (2) The impact of prohibited harassment in em19 ployment and violations of Federal civil rights laws 

20 on the Federal Government, in terms of monetary 

21 costs, attrition, and morale. 

22 (3) The particular impact of prohibited harass23 ment in employment on the experience of Federal 

24 employees with disabilities. 


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1 (4) Working in coordination with the Commis2 sion’s Office of Federal Operations, a description of 

3 the differences in Federal agency policies, strategies, 

4 reporting mechanisms, training programs, and other 

5 practices regarding preventing and addressing pro6 hibited harassment in employment. 

7 (5) A description of which policies, strategies, 

8 reporting mechanisms, training programs, and other 

9 practices described in paragraph (4) have prevented, 

10 addressed, or reduced prohibited harassment in em11 ployment. 

12 (6) Working in coordination with the Commis13 sion’s Office of Federal Operations, joint rec14 ommendations from such Office and the Merit Sys15 tems Protection Board to Federal agencies on how 

16 to prevent and address prohibited harassment in em17 ployment. 

18 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 are authorized to be appropriated to the Merit Systems 

20 Protection Board such sums as may be necessary to carry 

21 out this section. 

22 SEC. 113. STUDIES, REPORTS, AND FURTHER RESEARCH. 

23 (a) STUDY AND REPORT ON ENFORCEMENT OF NON24 DISCRIMINATION LAWS PROHIBITING HARASSMENT

25 LAWS.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 


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1 of this Act, the United States Commission on Civil Rights 

2 shall prepare and submit to the Committee on Health, 

3 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the 

4 Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House 

5 of Representatives a report that shall examine enforce6 ment of the nondiscrimination laws prohibiting harass7 ment including— 

8 (1) trends in enforcement of such laws; 

9 (2) barriers to effective enforcement of such 

10 laws; 

11 (3) best practices in enforcement of such laws; 

12 (4) recommendations about how to improve en13 forcement of such laws, including whether estab14 lishing individual liability for harassment in employ15 ment would improve enforcement of such laws; and 

16 (5) how the experience of harassment for em17 ployees and individuals required to be afforded pro18 tections under section 301 has changed over time 

19 since the passage of such laws. 

20 (b) STUDY AND REPORT ON PREVENTION OF HAR21 ASSMENT IN EMPLOYMENT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

23 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of 

24 the National Institutes of Health shall seek to enter 

25 into an agreement with the National Academies of 


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1 Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, through which 

2 the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, 

3 and Medicine shall conduct a study on preventing 

4 and addressing prohibited harassment in employ5 ment. 

6 (2) CONTENTS.—Such study shall include— 

7 (A) an evaluation of the existing research 

8 of the causes of prohibited harassment in em9 ployment, including retaliation related to such 

10 harassment, and gaps in such research; 

11 (B) a review of the existing research re12 garding how prohibited harassment in employ13 ment impacts individuals; 

14 (C) an evaluation of the existing research 

15 on training to prevent prohibited harassment in 

16 employment, including essential components of 

17 effective training to prevent such prohibited 

18 harassment, including retaliation, and gaps in 

19 such research; 

20 (D) an assessment of the efficacy and 

21 availability of training models and programs to 

22 prevent prohibited harassment in employment; 

23 (E) the identification of employment or so24 cietal factors that increase the likelihood of pro25 hibited harassment in employment, particularly 


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1 across industries with a high number of individ2 uals who are vulnerable to experiencing such 

3 prohibited harassment, including whether diver4 sity in leadership positions within an organiza5 tion reduces the likelihood of such prohibited 

6 harassment; 

7 (F) an examination of methods of induc8 ing, scaling, and sustaining institutional or or9 ganizational change to prevent prohibited har10 assment in employment; 

11 (G) an analysis of policies, strategies, and 

12 practices that have been the most successful in 

13 preventing and addressing prohibited harass14 ment in employment; and 

15 (H) any other information or analysis nec16 essary to identify the gaps in research and 

17 other measures described in subsection (c). 

18 (3) REPORT.—Through an agreement under 

19 paragraph (1), not later than 1 year after the date 

20 of enactment of this Act, the National Academies of 

21 Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine shall prepare 

22 and submit to the Committee on Health, Education, 

23 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, the Committee 

24 on Education and the Workforce of the House of 

25 Representatives, and the Director of the National 


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1 Institutes of Health, a report containing the results 

2 of the study conducted under this subsection and 

3 make recommendations to Congress, executive 

4 branch agencies, private employers, and researchers. 

5 Such recommendations shall include ways that such 

6 training to prevent prohibited harassment in employ7 ment could be improved to result in behavioral and 

8 cultural changes that prevent and reduce behaviors 

9 associated with prohibited harassment in employ10 ment. The report and recommendations under this 

11 paragraph shall be made publicly available. 

12 (c) SUPPORTING FURTHER RESEARCH ON PRE13 VENTING AND UNDERSTANDING HARASSMENT IN EM14 PLOYMENT.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months 

16 after the submission of the report under subsection 

17 (b)(3), the Director of the National Institutes of 

18 Health, in consultation with the Commission and the 

19 Secretary of Labor, shall enter into agreements (in20 cluding through the use of grants, contracts, cooper21 ative agreements, or other transactions) to support 

22 research regarding— 

23 (A) the gaps identified in such report in 

24 research on the causes of prohibited harassment 


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1 in employment, including retaliation related to 

2 such harassment; 

3 (B) the gaps identified in such report in 

4 research on the psychological sequelae of pro5 hibited harassment in employment, including 

6 retaliation related to such harassment; 

7 (C) gaps identified in such report in re8 search on special populations and the risk for 

9 prohibited harassment in employment, including 

10 retaliation related to such harassment, includ11 ing such research with respect to special popu12 lations, including adolescents, older individuals, 

13 racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with 

14 disabilities, women, and other populations that 

15 could be disproportionately affected by such 

16 prohibited harassment in employment, and re17 taliation related to such harassment; 

18 (D) gaps identified in such report in re19 search on prohibited harassment in employ20 ment, including retaliation related to such har21 assment, as a risk factor for various mental 

22 health problems; 

23 (E) gaps identified in such report in re24 search on sociocultural correlations within proVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:32 Sep 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4902.IS S4902

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1 hibited harassment in employment, including 

2 retaliation related to such harassment; and 

3 (F) systematic and quantifiable measures 

4 to evaluate prevention strategies for victims and 

5 perpetrators of prohibited harassment in em6 ployment, including retaliation related to such 

7 harassment. 

8 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

9 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Na10 tional Institutes of Health to carry out this sub11 section such sums as may be necessary. 

12 Subtitle C—Preventing Harassment 

13 of Tipped Employees 

14 SEC. 121. TIPPED EMPLOYEES. 

15 (a) BASE MINIMUM WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES

16 AND TIPS RETAINED BY EMPLOYEES.—Section 

17 3(m)(2)(A)(i) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

18 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A)(i)) is amended to read as fol19 lows: 

20 ‘‘(i) the cash wage paid such em21 ployee, which for purposes of such deter22 mination shall be not less than— 

23 ‘‘(I) for the 1-year period begin24 ning on the effective date under sub25 section (e), $3.60 an hour; 


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1 ‘‘(II) for each succeeding 1-year 

2 period until the hourly wage under 

3 this clause equals the wage in effect 

4 under section 6(a)(1) for such period, 

5 an hourly wage equal to the amount 

6 determined under this clause for the 

7 preceding year, increased by the lesser 

8 of— 

9 ‘‘(aa) $1.50; or 

10 ‘‘(bb) the amount necessary 

11 for the wage in effect under this 

12 clause to equal the wage in effect 

13 under section 6(a)(1) for such 

14 period, rounded up to the nearest 

15 multiple of $0.05; and 

16 ‘‘(III) for each succeeding 1-year 

17 period after the increase made pursu18 ant to subclause (II), the minimum 

19 wage in effect under section 6(a)(1); 

20 and’’. 

21 (b) TIPS RETAINED BY EMPLOYEES.—Section 

22 3(m)(2)(A) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 

23 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A)) is amended— 

24 (1) in the second sentence of the matter fol25 lowing clause (ii), by striking ‘‘of this subsection, 


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1 and all tips received by such employee have been re2 tained by the employee’’ and inserting ‘‘of this sub3 section. Any employee shall have the right to retain 

4 any tips received by such employee’’; and 

5 (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘An em6 ployer shall inform each employee of the right and 

7 exception provided under the preceding sentence.’’. 

8 (c) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.—Section 6 of the Fair 

9 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206) is amended 

10 by adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(h) Not later than 60 days prior to the effective date 

12 of any increase in the required wage determined in accord13 ance with subclause (II) or (III) of section 3(m)(2)(A)(i), 

14 the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register and 

15 on the website of the Department of Labor a notice an16 nouncing each increase in such required wage.’’. 

17 (d) SCHEDULED REPEAL OF SEPARATE MINIMUM

18 WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES.— 

19 (1) TIPPED EMPLOYEES.—Section 3(m)(2)(A) 

20 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

21 203(m)(2)(A)), as amended by subsections (a) and 

22 (b), is further amended by striking the sentence be23 ginning with ‘‘In determining the wage an employer 

24 is required to pay a tipped employee,’’ and all that 

25 follows through ‘‘of this subsection.’’ and inserting 


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1 ‘‘The wage required to be paid to a tipped employee 

2 shall be the wage set forth in section 6(a)(1).’’. 

3 (2) PUBLICATION OF NOTICE.—Section 6 of the 

4 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206), 

5 as amended by subsection (c), is further amended by 

6 striking subsection (h). 

7 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

8 by paragraphs (1) and (2) shall take effect on the 

9 date that is one day after the date on which the 

10 hourly wage under subclause (III) of section 

11 3(m)(2)(A)(i) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

12 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A)(i)), as amended by 

13 subsection (a), takes effect. 

14 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Except as provided in sub15 section (d)(3), this section and the amendments made by 

16 this section shall take effect on the first day of the third 

17 month that begins after the date of enactment of this Act. 

18 TITLE II—STRENGTHENING 

19 WORKPLACE RIGHTS 

20 SEC. 201. CLARIFYING SEXUAL ORIENTATION DISCRIMINA21 TION AND GENDER IDENTITY DISCRIMINA22 TION ARE UNLAWFUL SEX DISCRIMINATION. 

23 (a) EMPLOYMENT.— 


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1 (1) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Title VII of 

2 the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is amended by inserting 

3 after section 701 (42 U.S.C. 2000e) the following: 

4 ‘‘SEC. 701A. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

5 ‘‘Section 1106 shall apply to this title except that for 

6 purposes of that application, a reference in that section 

7 to an ‘unlawful practice’ shall be considered to be a ref8 erence to an ‘unlawful employment practice’.’’. 

9 (2) UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES.— 

10 Section 703 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

11 U.S.C. 2000e–2) is amended— 

12 (A) in the section header, by striking 

13 ‘‘SEX,’’ and inserting ‘‘SEX (INCLUDING SEX14 UAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, 

15 SEX STEREOTYPE, SEX CHARACTERISTICS, 

16 AND PREGNANCY, CHILDBIRTH, OR RE17 LATED MEDICAL CONDITIONS),’’; 

18 (B) except in subsection (e), by striking 

19 ‘‘sex,’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘sex 

20 (including sexual orientation, gender identity, 

21 sex stereotype, sex characteristics, and preg22 nancy, childbirth, or related medical condi23 tions),’’; 

24 (C) in subsection (e)(1), by striking ‘‘en25 terprise,’’ and inserting ‘‘enterprise, if, in a sitVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:32 Sep 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4902.IS S4902

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1 uation in which sex is a bona fide occupational 

2 qualification, individuals are recognized as 

3 qualified in accordance with their gender iden4 tity,’’; and 

5 (D) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘sex’’ 

6 the second place it appears and inserting ‘‘sex 

7 (including sexual orientation, gender identity, 

8 sex stereotype, sex characteristics, and preg9 nancy, childbirth, or related medical condi10 tions),’’. 

11 (3) OTHER UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT PRAC12 TICES.—Section 704(b) of the Civil Rights Act of 

13 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–3(b)) is amended— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘sex,’’ the first place it ap15 pears and inserting ‘‘sex (including sexual ori16 entation, gender identity, sex stereotype, sex 

17 characteristics, and pregnancy, childbirth, or re18 lated medical conditions),’’; and 

19 (B) by striking ‘‘employment.’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘employment, if, in a situation in which sex 

21 is a bona fide occupational qualification, indi22 viduals are recognized as qualified in accord23 ance with their gender identity.’’. 

24 (4) CLAIMS.—Section 706(g)(2)(A) of the Civil 

25 Rights Act of 1964 (2000e–5(g)(2)(A)) is amended 


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1 by striking ‘‘sex,’’ and inserting ‘‘sex (including sex2 ual orientation, gender identity, sex stereotype, sex 

3 characteristics, and pregnancy, childbirth, or related 

4 medical conditions),’’. 

5 (5) EMPLOYMENT BY FEDERAL GOVERN6 MENT.—Section 717 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

7 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16) is amended— 

8 (A) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘sex,’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘sex (including sexual orientation, 

10 gender identity, sex stereotype, sex characteris11 tics, and pregnancy, childbirth, or related med12 ical conditions),’’; and 

13 (B) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘sex’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘sex (including sexual orientation, 

15 gender identity, sex stereotype, sex characteris16 tics, and pregnancy, childbirth, or related med17 ical conditions),’’. 

18 (6) GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE RIGHTS ACT OF

19 1991.—The Government Employee Rights Act of 

20 1991 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16a et seq.) is amended— 

21 (A) in section 301(b), by striking ‘‘sex,’’ 

22 and inserting ‘‘sex (including sexual orientation, 

23 gender identity, sex stereotype, sex characteris24 tics, and pregnancy, childbirth, or related med25 ical conditions),’’; 


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1 (B) in section 302(a)(1), by striking ‘‘sex,’’ 

2 and inserting ‘‘sex (including sexual orientation, 

3 gender identity, sex stereotype, sex characteris4 tics, and pregnancy, childbirth, or related med5 ical conditions),’’; and 

6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 305. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION AND CLAIMS. 

8 ‘‘Sections 1101(b), 1106, and 1107 of the Civil 

9 Rights Act of 1964 shall apply to this title except that 

10 for purposes of that application, a reference in that section 

11 1106 to ‘race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orienta12 tion, gender identity, sex stereotype, sex characteristics, 

13 and pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), 

14 or national origin’ shall be considered to be a reference 

15 to ‘race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation, 

16 gender identity, sex stereotype, sex characteristics, and 

17 pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), na18 tional origin, age, or disability’.’’. 

19 (7) CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF

20 1995.—The Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 

21 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) is amended— 

22 (A) in section 201(a)(1) (2 U.S.C. 

23 1311(a)(1)) by striking ‘‘sex,’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘sex (including sexual orientation, gender iden25 tity, sex stereotype, sex characteristics, and 


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1 pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condi2 tions),’’; and 

3 (B) by adding at the end of title II (42 

4 U.S.C. 1311 et seq.) the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 209. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION AND CLAIMS. 

6 ‘‘Sections 1101(b), 1106, and 1107 of the Civil 

7 Rights Act of 1964 shall apply to section 201 (and reme8 dial provisions of this Act related to section 201) except 

9 that for purposes of that application, a reference in that 

10 section 1106 to ‘race, color, religion, sex (including sexual 

11 orientation, gender identity, sex stereotype, sex character12 istics, and pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condi13 tions), or national origin’ shall be considered to be a ref14 erence to ‘race, color, religion, sex (including sexual ori15 entation, gender identity, sex stereotype, sex characteris16 tics, and pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condi17 tions), national origin, age, or disability’.’’. 

18 (8) CIVIL SERVICE REFORM ACT OF 1978.— 

19 Chapter 23 of title 5, United States Code, is amend20 ed— 

21 (A) in section 2301(b)(2), by striking 

22 ‘‘sex,’’ and inserting ‘‘sex (including sexual ori23 entation, gender identity, sex stereotype, sex 

24 characteristics, and pregnancy, childbirth, or re25 lated medical conditions),’’; 


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1 (B) in section 2302— 

2 (i) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking 

3 ‘‘sex,’’ and inserting ‘‘sex (including sexual 

4 orientation, gender identity, sex stereotype, 

5 sex characteristics, and pregnancy, child6 birth, or related medical conditions),’’; and 

7 (ii) in subsection (d)(1), by striking 

8 ‘‘sex,’’ and inserting ‘‘sex (including sexual 

9 orientation, gender identity, sex stereotype, 

10 sex characteristics, and pregnancy, child11 birth, or related medical conditions),’’; and 

12 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 2307. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION AND CLAIMS. 

14 ‘‘Sections 1101(b), 1106, and 1107 of the Civil 

15 Rights Act of 1964 shall apply to this chapter (and reme16 dial provisions of this title related to this chapter) except 

17 that for purposes of that application, a reference in that 

18 section 1106 to ‘race, color, religion, sex (including sexual 

19 orientation, gender identity, sex stereotype, sex character20 istics, and pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condi21 tions), or national origin’ shall be considered to be a ref22 erence to ‘race, color, religion, sex (including sexual ori23 entation, gender identity, sex stereotype, sex characteris24 tics, and pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical condiVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:32 Sep 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00037 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4902.IS S4902

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1 tions), national origin, age, disability, marital status, or 

2 political affiliation’.’’. 

3 (b) MISCELLANEOUS.—Title XI of the Civil Rights 

4 Act of 1964 is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating sections 1101 through 

6 1104 (42 U.S.C. 2000h et seq.) and sections 1105 

7 and 1106 (42 U.S.C. 2000h–5, 2000h–6) as sections 

8 1102 through 1105 and sections 1108 and 1109, re9 spectively; 

10 (2) by inserting after the title heading the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 1101. DEFINITIONS AND RULES. 

13 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In title VII: 

14 ‘‘(1) RACE; COLOR; RELIGION; SEX; SEXUAL

15 ORIENTATION; GENDER IDENTITY; NATIONAL ORI16 GIN.—The term ‘race’, ‘color’, ‘religion’, ‘sex’, or 

17 ‘national origin’, used with respect to an individual, 

18 includes— 

19 ‘‘(A) the race, color, religion, sex (includ20 ing sexual orientation, gender identity, sex 

21 stereotype, sex characteristics, and pregnancy, 

22 childbirth, or related medical conditions), or na23 tional origin, respectively, of another person 

24 with whom the individual is associated or has 

25 been associated; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) a perception or belief, even if inac2 curate, concerning the race, color, religion, sex 

3 (including sexual orientation, gender identity, 

4 sex stereotype, sex characteristics, and preg5 nancy, childbirth, or related medical condi6 tions), or national origin, respectively, of the in7 dividual. 

8 ‘‘(2) GENDER IDENTITY.—The term ‘gender 

9 identity’ means the gender-related identity, appear10 ance, mannerisms, or other gender-related character11 istics of an individual, regardless of the individual’s 

12 designated sex at birth. 

13 ‘‘(3) INCLUDING.—The term ‘including’ means 

14 including, but not limited to, consistent with the 

15 term’s standard meaning in Federal law. 

16 ‘‘(4) SEXUAL ORIENTATION.—The term ‘sexual 

17 orientation’ means homosexuality, heterosexuality, or 

18 bisexuality. 

19 ‘‘(b) RULES.—In title VII— 

20 ‘‘(1) with respect to sex, an individual’s preg21 nancy, childbirth, or related medical condition shall 

22 not receive less favorable treatment than other phys23 ical conditions; and 

24 ‘‘(2) with respect to gender identity, an indi25 vidual shall not be denied access to a shared facility, 


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1 including a restroom, a locker room, and a dressing 

2 room, that is in accordance with the individual’s 

3 gender identity.’’; and 

4 (3) by inserting after section 1105 the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 1106. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

7 ‘‘(a) SEX.—Nothing in section 1101 or the provisions 

8 of title VII incorporating a term defined or a rule specified 

9 in that section shall be construed— 

10 ‘‘(1) to limit the protection against an unlawful 

11 practice on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, a 

12 medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth 

13 provided by section 701(k); or 

14 ‘‘(2) to limit the protection against an unlawful 

15 practice on the basis of sex available under any pro16 vision of Federal law other than title VII, prohib17 iting a practice on the basis of sex, including under 

18 the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (42 U.S.C. 

19 2000gg et seq.). 

20 ‘‘(b) CLAIMS AND REMEDIES NOT PRECLUDED.— 

21 Nothing in section 1101 or title VII shall be construed 

22 to limit the claims or remedies available to any individual 

23 for an unlawful practice on the basis of race, color, reli24 gion, sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, sex 

25 stereotype, sex characteristics, and pregnancy, childbirth, 


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1 or related medical conditions), or national origin including 

2 claims brought pursuant to section 1979 or 1980 of the 

3 Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1983, 1985) or any other 

4 law, including a Federal law amended by the BE HEARD 

5 in the Workplace Act, regulation, or policy, and including 

6 the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (42 U.S.C. 2000gg 

7 et seq.). 

8 ‘‘(c) NO NEGATIVE INFERENCE.—Nothing in section 

9 1101 or title VII shall be construed to support any infer10 ence that any Federal law prohibiting a practice on the 

11 basis of sex (including the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act 

12 (42 U.S.C. 2000gg et seq.)), does not prohibit discrimina13 tion on the basis of gender identity, sex stereotype, and 

14 pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 1107. CLAIMS. 

16 ‘‘The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 

17 U.S.C. 2000bb et seq.) shall not provide a claim con18 cerning, or a defense to a claim under, title VII, or provide 

19 a basis for challenging the application or enforcement of 

20 title VII.’’. 

21 SEC. 202. COVERED EMPLOYERS. 

22 Section 701(b) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

23 U.S.C. 2000e(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘fifteen’’ and in24 serting ‘‘one’’. 


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1 SEC. 203. COMPENSATORY AND PUNITIVE DAMAGES AVAIL2 ABLE. 

3 (a) CIVIL RIGHTS; DISABILITY.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1977A of the Re5 vised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981a(b)) is amended— 

6 (A) in subsection (b), by striking para7 graph (3) and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘(3) LOSSES.—Compensatory damages are 

9 available under this section for future pecuniary 

10 losses, emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, 

11 mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other 

12 nonpecuniary losses.’’; and 

13 (B) in subsection (c)— 

14 (i) by striking paragraph (2); 

15 (ii) by striking ‘‘this section’’ and all 

16 that follows through ‘‘party’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘this section, any party’’; and 

18 (iii) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting 

19 a period. 

20 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

21 (A) Section 201(b) of the Congressional 

22 Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1311(b)) 

23 is amended, in paragraphs (1)(B) and (3)(B)— 

24 (i) by striking ‘‘and, irrespective of 

25 the size of the employing office, 


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1 1977A(b)(3)(D)’’ and inserting ‘‘and 

2 1977A(b)(3)’’; and 

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘and 1981a(b)(3)(D)’’ 

4 and inserting ‘‘and 1981a(b)(3)’’. 

5 (B) Section 411(b) of title 3, United 

6 States Code, is amended, in paragraphs (1)(B) 

7 and (3)(B), by striking ‘‘and, irrespective of the 

8 size of the employing office, 1977A(b)(3)(D)’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘and 1977A(b)(3)’’. 

10 (C) Section 207 of the Genetic Information 

11 Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 

12 2000ff–16) is amended, in paragraph (3) of 

13 each of subsections (a) through (e), by striking 

14 ‘‘, including the limitations contained in sub15 section (b)(3) of such section 1977A,’’. 

16 (b) AGE.—Section 7(b) of the Age Discrimination in 

17 Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 626(b)) is amend18 ed— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘(b) The’’ and all that follows 

20 through the third sentence and inserting the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘(b)(1) Except as otherwise provided in another sub23 section of this section, or section 9, the powers, remedies, 

24 and procedures set forth in sections 705, 706, 707, 709, 

25 and 710 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 


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1 2000e–4, 2000e–5, 2000e–6, 2000e–8, and 2000e–9) 

2 shall be the powers, remedies, and procedures this Act 

3 provides to the Commission, to the Attorney General, or 

4 to any person alleging discrimination on the basis of age 

5 in violation of section 4, or regulations promulgated under 

6 section 9.’’; and 

7 (2) in the second sentence of that subsection 

8 (b), as amended by paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or 

9 enforcing the liability for amounts deemed to be un10 paid minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensa11 tion under this section’’ and inserting ‘‘and includ12 ing any type of legal or equitable relief available 

13 under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

14 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.)’’. 

15 SEC. 204. DISCRIMINATION, INCLUDING HARASSMENT; 

16 STANDARDS OF PROOF. 

17 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

18 (1) harassment is a persistent and significant 

19 problem in the workplace in the United States; 

20 (2) workers are harassed because of their sex 

21 (including sexual orientation, gender identity, sex 

22 stereotype, sex characteristics, and pregnancy, child23 birth, or related medical conditions), race, color, reli24 gion, national origin, age, disability, genetic informa25 tion, and uniformed services status; 


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1 (3) Congress enacted title VII of the Civil 

2 Rights Act of 1964 intending to provide broad pro3 tection from many forms of bias in the workplace; 

4 (4) the Supreme Court has recognized in City 

5 of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power v. 

6 Manhart, 435 U.S. 702 (1978), that the protection 

7 against sex discrimination in the terms, conditions, 

8 or privileges of employment under title VII of the 

9 Civil Rights Act of 1964 reflects Congress’ intent to 

10 ‘‘strike at the entire spectrum’’ of sex-based dis11 crimination in employment; 

12 (5) in 1980, the Equal Employment Oppor13 tunity Commission (referred to in this section as 

14 ‘‘the Commission’’) amended its Guidelines on Dis15 crimination Because of sex (referred to in this sec16 tion as ‘‘the Guidelines’’) to specify that sexual har17 assment is a form of sex discrimination prohibited 

18 by title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; 

19 (6) in the Guidelines, the Commission explained 

20 that harassing conduct is unlawful where— 

21 (A) ‘‘submission to such conduct is made 

22 either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition 

23 of an individual’s employment’’; 


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1 (B) ‘‘submission to or rejection of such 

2 conduct by an individual is used as the basis for 

3 employment decisions’’; or 

4 (C) the conduct ‘‘has the purpose or effect 

5 of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s 

6 work performance or creating an intimidating, 

7 hostile, or offensive working environment’’; 

8 (7) the Commission further explained that, with 

9 respect to the evidence required to support a finding 

10 of unlawful harassment, it ‘‘will look at the record 

11 as a whole and at the totality of the circumstances, 

12 such as the nature of the sexual advances and the 

13 context in which the alleged incidents occurred’’ and 

14 emphasized that the ‘‘determination of the legality of 

15 a particular action will be made from the facts, on 

16 a case by case basis’’; 

17 (8) six years later, the Supreme Court in 

18 Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57 

19 (1986), recognized that the protections under title 

20 VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 are not limited 

21 to discrimination that causes ‘‘economic’’ or ‘‘tan22 gible’’ loss, and held that the phrase ‘‘terms, condi23 tions, or privileges of employment’’ in title VII of 

24 such Act is an ‘‘expansive concept that sweeps with25 in its protective ambit’’ the practice of creating a 


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1 hostile work environment based on discrimination in 

2 the form of harassment; 

3 (9) in reaching this conclusion in the Meritor 

4 decision, the Supreme Court cited and approved the 

5 Guidelines; 

6 (10) in the Meritor decision, the Supreme Court 

7 cited with approval lower court decisions that con8 cluded that a hostile work environment based on 

9 race, religion, or national origin violates the prohibi10 tion of discrimination in the terms, conditions, or 

11 privileges of employment under title VII of the Civil 

12 Rights Act of 1964, which decisions included— 

13 (A) Rogers v. EEOC, 454 F.2d 234 (5th 

14 Cir. 1971); 

15 (B) Firefighters Institute for Racial 

16 Equality v. City of St. Louis, 549 F.2d 506 

17 (8th Cir. 1977); 

18 (C) Gray v. Greyhound Lines, 545 F.2d 

19 169 (D.C. Cir. 1976); 

20 (D) Compston v. Borden, Inc., 424 F. 

21 Supp. 157 (S.D. Ohio 1976); and 

22 (E) Cariddi v. Kansas City Chiefs Football 

23 Club, Inc., 568 F.2d 87 (8th Cir. 1977); 

24 (11) in defining the evidence required to prove 

25 a violation of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 


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1 1964, in the Meritor decision, the Supreme Court 

2 noted that harassment would be actionable when it 

3 is ‘‘sufficiently severe or pervasive ‘to alter the con4 ditions of [the victim’s] employment and create an 

5 abusive working environment’ ’’ (quoting Rogers v. 

6 EEOC, 454 F.2d 234 (5th Cir. 1971)); 

7 (12) in Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc., 510 

8 U.S. 17 (1993), the Supreme Court clarified that 

9 harassment need not seriously affect an employee’s 

10 psychological well-being or lead the employee to suf11 fer injury in order to be unlawful, but rather, need 

12 merely create a work environment that a reasonable 

13 person in the protected class would find hostile or 

14 abusive; 

15 (13) in Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc., the Su16 preme Court held that whether a work environment 

17 is unlawfully hostile or abusive does not depend on 

18 any mathematically precise test, but rather, is to be 

19 determined by looking at all of the circumstances, 

20 with no single factor required; 

21 (14) in National Railroad Passenger Corp. v. 

22 Morgan, 536 U.S. 101 (2002), the Supreme Court 

23 reaffirmed the Harris decision and further held that 

24 the hostility or abusiveness of each harassing act 

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1 tion, regardless of whether such acts occur over days 

2 or even years; 

3 (15) notwithstanding the rulings of the Su4 preme Court specified in this subsection, some lower 

5 court decisions have treated harassing conduct’s se6 verity or pervasiveness as the only 2 relevant factors 

7 in evaluating whether such conduct violates title VII 

8 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; 

9 (16) some lower court decisions have treated 

10 ‘‘severe or pervasive’’ as a threshold for liability, 

11 when the relevant inquiry is whether the harassing 

12 conduct actually altered the terms, conditions, or 

13 privileges of employment; 

14 (17) some lower court decisions further have in15 terpreted the ‘‘severe or pervasive’’ language in the 

16 Meritor decision so narrowly as to recognize only the 

17 most egregious conduct as unlawful, despite Con18 gress’ intent that title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 

19 1964 afford a broad scope of protection from dis20 crimination; 

21 (18) examples of decisions that use the erro22 neous analysis described in paragraphs (15) through 

23 (17) in the context of harassment on the basis of sex 

24 include— 


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1 (A) Singleton v. Department of Correc2 tional Education, 115 Fed. Appx. 119 (4th Cir. 

3 2004); 

4 (B) Black v. Zaring Homes, Inc., 104 F.3d 

5 822 (6th Cir. 1997); 

6 (C) Weiss v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co., 990 

7 F.2d 333 (7th Cir. 1993); 

8 (D) Rickard v. Swedish Match North 

9 America, Inc., 773 F.3d 181 (8th Cir. 2014); 

10 (E) Mitchell v. Pope, 189 F. Appx. 911 

11 (11th Cir. 2006); and 

12 (F) Brooks v. City of San Mateo, 229 

13 F.3d 917 (9th Cir. 2000); 

14 (19) lower courts have made similar erroneous 

15 decisions in the context of harassment on the basis 

16 of race, national origin, age, and disability such as 

17 in Crawford v. Medina General Hospital, 96 F.3d 

18 830 (6th Cir. 1996), Shaver v. Independent Stave 

19 Co., 350 F.3d 716 (8th Cir. 2003), and Motley v. 

20 Parker-Hannifan Corp., No. 1: 94–CV–639 (W.D. 

21 Mich. 1995); 

22 (20) in contrast, other lower court decisions ap23 plying the Meritor case and its progeny have appro24 priately recognized that a wide range of harassing 

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1 leges of employment, with no single type, frequency, 

2 or duration of conduct required to make a showing 

3 of severe or pervasive harassment; 

4 (21) for example, in the context of harassment 

5 based on sex, those decisions have recognized that— 

6 (A) conduct need not be physical to create 

7 a hostile or abusive work environment, as in 

8 Billings v. Town of Grafton, 515 F.3d 39 (1st 

9 Cir. 2008); 

10 (B) an individual need not be the target of 

11 sexually demeaning conduct in order to experi12 ence unlawful harassment, as in Petrosino v. 

13 Bell Atlantic, 385 F.3d 210 (2d Cir. 2004); 

14 (C) power disparities, such as the young 

15 age of the individual harassed, compound the 

16 conduct’s harmful effects, as in EEOC v. R&R 

17 Ventures, 244 F.3d 334 (4th Cir. 2001); 

18 (D) gender-based epithets were based on 

19 sex and supported a finding that the workplace 

20 was objectively hostile, as in Gallagher v. C.H. 

21 Robinson Worldwide, Inc., 567 F.3d 263 (6th 

22 Cir. 2009); and 

23 (E) a single incident can alter the terms, 

24 conditions, or privileges of employment, as in 


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1 Howley v. Town of Stratford, 217 F.3d 141 (2d 

2 Cir. 2000); 

3 (22) similarly, in the context of harassment 

4 based on other protected characteristics, other 

5 courts have appropriately held that— 

6 (A) calling an individual an ‘‘old man’’ and 

7 ‘‘pops’’ could contribute to actionably hostile 

8 work environment based on age, as in Dediol v. 

9 Best Chevrolet, Inc., 655 F.3d 435 (5th Cir. 

10 2011); 

11 (B) repeatedly calling an individual with 

12 mental illness ‘‘crazy’’ and stating that the indi13 vidual is a threat to security is sufficient to 

14 support a finding of a hostile work environment 

15 based on disability, as in Quiles-Quiles v. Hen16 derson, 439 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2006); and 

17 (C) a single incident of calling an African18 American individual the ‘‘n word’’ by a super19 visor is sufficient to support a finding of a hos20 tile work environment based on race, as in Rod21 gers v. Western-Southern Life Insurance Co., 

22 12 F.3d 668 (7th Cir. 1993); and 

23 (23) similar erroneous decisions have been ren24 dered in the context of harassment on the basis of 

25 sex in employment under title IX of the Education 


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1 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), as 

2 in Farmer v. Troy University, No. 5:17–CV–70–B0 

3 (E.D.N.C. 2017). 

4 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are 

5 to— 

6 (1) enact into statutory law provisions that es7 tablish that workplace harassment is a violation of 

8 the— 

9 (A) protections from discrimination in the 

10 ‘‘terms, conditions, or privileges of employ11 ment’’ found in title VII of the Civil Rights Act 

12 of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.); 

13 (B) protections from disability discrimina14 tion found in title I of the Americans with Dis15 abilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12111 et seq.) 

16 and sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation 

17 Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791, 794a); 

18 (C) protections from age discrimination 

19 found in the Age Discrimination in Employ20 ment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et seq.); 

21 (D) protections from genetic information 

22 discrimination found in title II of the Genetic 

23 Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (42 

24 U.S.C. 2000ff et seq.); and 


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1 (E) protections from uniformed services 

2 status discrimination found in section 4311 of 

3 title 38, United States Code; and 

4 (2) establish a liability standard for workplace 

5 harassment that fulfills Congress’ intent of providing 

6 broad protection from discrimination in employment 

7 on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including 

8 sexual orientation, gender identity, sex stereotype, 

9 sex characteristics, and pregnancy, childbirth, or re10 lated medical conditions), national origin, age, dis11 ability, genetic information, and uniformed services 

12 status. 

13 (c) ENACTING INTO STATUTORY LAW PROVISIONS

14 ESTABLISHING WORKPLACE HARASSMENT AS AN UNLAW15 FUL EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE.— 

16 (1) CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964.—Section 703 of 

17 the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–2) 

18 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(o)(1)(A) In this subsection, the term ‘workplace 

20 harassment’ means conduct based on race, color, religion, 

21 sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, sex 

22 stereotype, sex characteristics, and pregnancy, childbirth, 

23 or related medical conditions), or national origin, regard24 less of whether it is direct or indirect, or verbal or non25 verbal, that unreasonably alters an individual’s terms, conVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:32 Sep 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4902.IS S4902

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1 ditions, or privileges of employment, including by creating 

2 an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. 

3 ‘‘(B)(i) In this subsection, the term also means sexual 

4 harassment, which is conduct that takes place in a cir5 cumstance described in clause (ii) and that takes the form 

6 of— 

7 ‘‘(I) a sexual advance; 

8 ‘‘(II) a request for sexual favors; or 

9 ‘‘(III) any other conduct of a sexual nature. 

10 ‘‘(ii) A circumstance described in this clause is a situ11 ation in which— 

12 ‘‘(I) submission to the conduct involved is made 

13 either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of 

14 employment; 

15 ‘‘(II) submission to or rejection of such conduct 

16 is used as the basis for an employment decision af17 fecting an individual’s employment; or 

18 ‘‘(III) such conduct unreasonably alters an indi19 vidual’s terms, conditions, or privileges of employ20 ment, including by creating an intimidating hostile, 

21 or offensive work environment. 

22 ‘‘(2) It shall be an unlawful employment practice 

23 under subsection (a) to engage in workplace harassment. 

24 ‘‘(3) In determining, for purposes of this subsection, 

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1 cause the conduct unreasonably alters an individual’s 

2 terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, including 

3 by creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work en4 vironment, the following rules shall apply: 

5 ‘‘(A) That determination shall be made on the 

6 basis of the record as a whole, according to the to7 tality of the circumstances. A single incident may 

8 constitute workplace harassment. 

9 ‘‘(B) Incidents that may be workplace harass10 ment shall be considered in the aggregate, with— 

11 ‘‘(i) conduct of varying types (such as ex12 pressions of sex-based hostility, requests for 

13 sexual favors, and denial of employment oppor14 tunities due to sexual orientation) viewed in to15 tality, rather than in isolation; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) conduct based on multiple protected 

17 characteristics (such as sex and race) viewed in 

18 totality, rather than in isolation. 

19 ‘‘(C) The factors specified in this subparagraph 

20 are among the factors to be considered in deter21 mining whether conduct constitutes workplace har22 assment and are not meant to be exhaustive. No one 

23 of those factors shall be considered to be determina24 tive in establishing whether conduct constitutes 


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1 workplace harassment. Such factors are each of the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(i) The frequency of the conduct. 

4 ‘‘(ii) The duration of the conduct. 

5 ‘‘(iii) The location where the conduct oc6 curred. 

7 ‘‘(iv) The number of individuals engaged in 

8 the conduct. 

9 ‘‘(v) The nature of the conduct, which may 

10 include physical, verbal, pictorial, or visual con11 duct, and conduct that occurs in person or is 

12 transmitted, such as electronically. 

13 ‘‘(vi) Whether the conduct is threatening. 

14 ‘‘(vii) Any power differential between the 

15 alleged harasser and the person allegedly har16 assed. 

17 ‘‘(viii) Any use of epithets, slurs, or other 

18 conduct that is humiliating or degrading. 

19 ‘‘(ix) Whether the conduct reflects stereo20 types about individuals in the protected class 

21 involved. 

22 ‘‘(4) In determining, for purposes of this subsection, 

23 whether conduct constitutes workplace harassment, con24 duct may be workplace harassment regardless of whether, 

25 for example— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the complaining party is not the individual 

2 being harassed; 

3 ‘‘(B) the complaining party acquiesced or other4 wise submitted to, or participated in, the conduct; 

5 ‘‘(C) the conduct is also experienced by others 

6 outside the protected class involved; 

7 ‘‘(D) the complaining party was able to con8 tinue carrying out duties and responsibilities of the 

9 party’s job despite the conduct; 

10 ‘‘(E) the conduct did not cause a tangible in11 jury or psychological injury; or 

12 ‘‘(F) the conduct occurred outside of the work13 place.’’. 

14 (2) AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF

15 1990.—Section 102(b) of the Americans with Disabil16 ities Act (42 U.S.C. 12112(b)) is amended— 

17 (A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

18 the end; 

19 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking the pe20 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

21 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(8) engaging in workplace harassment, which 

23 is conduct based on disability, regardless of whether 

24 it is direct or indirect, or verbal or nonverbal, that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) unreasonably alters an individual’s 

2 terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, 

3 including by creating an intimidating, hostile, 

4 or offensive work environment; and 

5 ‘‘(B) is determined to be such harassment 

6 in accordance with paragraphs (3) and (4) of 

7 section 703(o) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

8 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–2(o)).’’. 

9 (3) REHABILITATION ACT OF 1973.—Section 

10 501(f) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

11 791(f)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, including section 

12 102(b) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 12112(b))’’, before 

13 ‘‘and the provisions’’. 

14 (4) AGE DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT

15 ACT.—Section 4 of the Age Discrimination in Em16 ployment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 623) is amended 

17 by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(n) It shall be unlawful under subsection (a) to en19 gage in workplace harassment, which is conduct based on 

20 age, regardless of whether it is direct or indirect, or verbal 

21 or nonverbal, that— 

22 ‘‘(1) unreasonably alters an individual’s terms, 

23 conditions, or privileges of employment, including by 

24 creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work 

25 environment; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) is determined to be such harassment in ac2 cordance with paragraphs (3) and (4) of section 

3 703(o) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

4 2000e–2(o)).’’. 

5 (5) GENETIC INFORMATION NONDISCRIMINA6 TION ACT OF 2008.—Section 202 of the Genetic In7 formation Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 

8 2000ff–1) is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘(d) WORKPLACE HARASSMENT.—It shall be an un11 lawful employment practice under subsection (a) to engage 

12 in workplace harassment, which is conduct based on ge13 netic information, regardless of whether it is direct or indi14 rect, or verbal or nonverbal, that— 

15 ‘‘(1) unreasonably alters an individual’s terms, 

16 conditions, or privileges of employment, including by 

17 creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work 

18 environment; and 

19 ‘‘(2) is determined to be such harassment in ac20 cordance with paragraphs (3) and (4) of section 

21 703(o) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

22 2000e–2(o)).’’. 

23 (6) CHAPTER 43 OF TITLE 38, UNITED STATES

24 CODE.—Section 4311 of title 38, United States 


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1 Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(e) It shall be an unlawful employment practice 

4 under subsection (a) to engage in workplace harassment, 

5 which is conduct based on uniformed services status 

6 (meaning the membership, application for membership, 

7 performance of service, application for service, or obliga8 tion, described in subsection (a)), regardless of whether 

9 it is direct or indirect, or verbal or nonverbal, that— 

10 ‘‘(1) unreasonably alters an individual’s benefits 

11 of employment, including by creating an intimi12 dating, hostile, or offensive work environment; and 

13 ‘‘(2) is determined to be such harassment in ac14 cordance with paragraphs (3) and (4) of section 

15 703(o) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

16 2000e–2(o)).’’. 

17 SEC. 205. CLARIFYING OTHER STANDARDS OF PROOF. 

18 (a) AMENDMENTS TO DEFINITIONS.— 

19 (1) AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF

20 1990.—Section 101 of the Americans with Disabil21 ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12111) is amended by 

22 adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(11) DEMONSTRATES.—The term ‘dem24 onstrates’ means meets the burdens of production 

25 and persuasion.’’. 


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1 (2) AGE DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT ACT

2 OF 1967.—Section 11 of the Age Discrimination in 

3 Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 630) is amend4 ed by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(m) The term ‘demonstrates’ means meets the bur6 dens of production and persuasion.’’. 

7 (3) GENETIC INFORMATION NONDISCRIMINA8 TION ACT OF 2008.—Section 201 of the Genetic In9 formation Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 

10 2000ff) is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(8) DEMONSTRATES.—The term ‘dem13 onstrates’ means meets the burdens of production 

14 and persuasion.’’. 

15 (b) CLARIFYING PROHIBITION AGAINST IMPERMIS16 SIBLE CONSIDERATION IN EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES.— 

17 (1) RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, SEX, OR NA18 TIONAL ORIGIN.—Section 703 of the Civil Rights 

19 Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–2) is amended by 

20 striking subsection (m) and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(m) Except as otherwise provided in this title, an 

22 unlawful employment practice is established under this 

23 title when the complaining party demonstrates that race, 

24 color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation, gender 

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1 nancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), or na2 tional origin or an activity protected by section 704(a) was 

3 a motivating factor for any employment practice, even 

4 though other factors also motivated the practice.’’. 

5 (2) DISABILITY.—Section 102 of the Americans 

6 with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12112) is 

7 amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(e) PROOF.— 

9 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Except as otherwise 

10 provided in this Act, a discriminatory practice is es11 tablished under this Act when the complaining party 

12 demonstrates that disability or an activity protected 

13 by subsection (a) or (b) of section 503 was a moti14 vating factor for any employment practice, even 

15 though other factors also motivated the practice. 

16 ‘‘(2) DEMONSTRATION.—In establishing a dis17 criminatory practice under paragraph (1) or by any 

18 other method of proof, a complaining party— 

19 ‘‘(A) may rely on any type or form of ad20 missible evidence and need only produce evi21 dence sufficient for a reasonable trier of fact to 

22 find that a discriminatory practice occurred 

23 under this Act; and 

24 ‘‘(B) shall not be required to demonstrate 

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1 section (a) or (b) of section 503 was the sole 

2 cause of an employment practice.’’. 

3 (3) AGE.—Section 4 of the Age Discrimination 

4 in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 623) is 

5 amended by inserting after subsection (f) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(g)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, an 

8 unlawful practice is established under this Act when the 

9 complaining party demonstrates that age or an activity 

10 protected by subsection (d) was a motivating factor for 

11 any practice, even though other factors also motivated the 

12 practice. 

13 ‘‘(2) In establishing an unlawful practice under this 

14 Act, including under paragraph (1) or by any other meth15 od of proof, a complaining party— 

16 ‘‘(A) may rely on any type or form of admis17 sible evidence and need only produce evidence suffi18 cient for a reasonable trier of fact to find that an 

19 unlawful practice occurred under this Act; and 

20 ‘‘(B) shall not be required to demonstrate that 

21 age or an activity protected by subsection (d) was 

22 the sole cause of a practice.’’. 

23 (4) GENETIC INFORMATION.—Section 202 of 

24 the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 

25 2008 (42 U.S.C. 2000ff–1), as amended by section 


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1 204(c)(5), is further amended by adding at the end 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(e) PROOF.— 

4 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Except as otherwise 

5 provided in this title, an unlawful employment prac6 tice is established under this title when the com7 plaining party demonstrates that genetic information 

8 or an activity protected by section 207(f) was a mo9 tivating factor for any employment practice, even 

10 though other factors also motivated the practice. 

11 ‘‘(2) DEMONSTRATION.—In establishing an un12 lawful employment practice under paragraph (1) or 

13 by any other method of proof, a complaining party— 

14 ‘‘(A) may rely on any type or form of ad15 missible evidence and need only produce evi16 dence sufficient for a reasonable trier of fact to 

17 find that an unlawful employment practice oc18 curred under this title; and 

19 ‘‘(B) shall not be required to demonstrate 

20 that genetic information or an activity protected 

21 by section 207(f) was the sole cause of an em22 ployment practice.’’. 

23 (c) CERTAIN RETALIATION CLAIMS.— 

24 (1) AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF

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1 ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12203(c)) is amend2 ed— 

3 (A) by striking ‘‘The remedies’’ and insert4 ing the following: 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para6 graph (2), the remedies’’; and 

7 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN ANTIRETALIATION CLAIMS.—Sec9 tion 107(c) shall apply to claims under section 

10 102(e)(1) with respect to title I.’’. 

11 (2) AGE DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT ACT

12 OF 1967.—Section 4(d) of the Age Discrimination in 

13 Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 623(d)) is 

14 amended— 

15 (A) by striking ‘‘(d) It shall be’’ and in16 serting ‘‘(d)(1) It shall be’’; and 

17 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(2) Section 7(b)(2) shall apply to claims under sec19 tion 4(g)(1).’’. 

20 (3) GENETIC INFORMATION NONDISCRIMINA21 TION ACT OF 2008.—Section 207(f) of the Genetic 

22 Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (42 

23 U.S.C. 2000ff–6(f)) is amended— 

24 (A) by striking ‘‘No’’ and inserting the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—No’’; 

2 (B) in the second sentence, by striking 

3 ‘‘The remedies’’ and inserting ‘‘Except as pro4 vided in paragraph (2), the remedies’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(2) CERTAIN RETALIATION CLAIMS.—Sub7 section (g) shall apply to claims under section 

8 202(d)(1).’’. 

9 (d) REMEDIES.— 

10 (1) AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OF

11 1990.—Section 107 of the Americans with Disabil12 ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12117) is amended by 

13 adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(c) DISCRIMINATORY MOTIVATING FACTOR.—On a 

15 claim in which an individual establishes a discriminatory 

16 practice under section 102(e)(1), and a respondent dem17 onstrates that the respondent would have taken the same 

18 action in the absence of the impermissible motivating fac19 tor, the court— 

20 ‘‘(1) may grant declaratory relief, injunctive re21 lief (except as provided in paragraph (2)), and attor22 ney’s fees and costs demonstrated to be directly at23 tributable only to the pursuit of a claim under sec24 tion 102(e)(1); and 


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1 ‘‘(2) shall not award damages or issue an order 

2 requiring any admission, reinstatement, hiring, pro3 motion, or payment.’’. 

4 (2) AGE DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT ACT

5 OF 1967.—Section 7 of the Age Discrimination in 

6 Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 626) is amend7 ed— 

8 (A) in subsection (b), as amended by sec9 tion 203(b)— 

10 (i) in the second sentence, by striking 

11 ‘‘In’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to paragraph 

12 (2), in’’; 

13 (ii) in the third sentence, by striking 

14 ‘‘Before’’ and inserting the following: 

15 ‘‘(3) Before’’; and 

16 (iii) by inserting before paragraph (3), 

17 as designated by clause (ii), the following: 

18 ‘‘(2) On a claim in which an individual establishes 

19 an unlawful practice under section 4(g)(1), and a respond20 ent demonstrates that the respondent would have taken 

21 the same action in the absence of the impermissible moti22 vating factor, the court— 

23 ‘‘(A) may grant declaratory relief, injunctive re24 lief (except as provided in subparagraph (B)), and 

25 attorney’s fees and costs demonstrated to be directly 


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1 attributable only to the pursuit of a claim under sec2 tion 4(g)(1); and 

3 ‘‘(B) shall not award damages or issue an order 

4 requiring any admission, reinstatement, hiring, pro5 motion, or payment.’’; and 

6 (B) in subsection (c)— 

7 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking 

8 ‘‘Any’’ and inserting ‘‘Subject to sub9 section (b)(2), any’’; and 

10 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘of 

11 any issue of fact’’ and all that follows 

12 through the period and inserting ‘‘under 

13 the same circumstances as a trial by jury 

14 is available under title VII of the Civil 

15 Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et 

16 seq.).’’. 

17 (3) GENETIC INFORMATION NONDISCRIMINA18 TION ACT OF 2008.—Section 207 of the Genetic In19 formation Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 

20 2000ff–6) is amended— 

21 (A) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub22 section (h); and 

23 (B) by inserting after subsection (f) the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(g) MOTIVATING FACTOR.—On a claim in which an 

2 individual establishes an unlawful employment practice 

3 under section 202(e)(1), including a claim involving an 

4 employee or applicant described in any of subsections (a) 

5 through (e), and a respondent demonstrates that the re6 spondent would have taken the same action in the absence 

7 of the impermissible motivating factor, the court or the 

8 corresponding decisionmaker specified in subsections (a) 

9 through (e)— 

10 ‘‘(1) may grant declaratory relief, injunctive re11 lief (except as provided in paragraph (2)), and attor12 ney’s fees and costs demonstrated to be directly at13 tributable only to the pursuit of a claim under sec14 tion 202(d)(1); and 

15 ‘‘(2) shall not award damages or issue an order 

16 requiring any admission, reinstatement, hiring, pro17 motion, or payment.’’. 

18 (e) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.— 

19 (1) TITLE VII OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF

20 1964.—Section 717 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

21 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16) is amended by adding at the 

22 end the following: 

23 ‘‘(g) Sections 703(m) and 706(g)(2)(B) shall apply 

24 to mixed motive cases (involving practices described in sec25 tion 703(m)) under this section.’’. 


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1 (2) REHABILITATION ACT OF 1973.—The 

2 amendment made by subsection (f) to section 501(f) 

3 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791(f)) 

4 shall be construed to apply to all employees covered 

5 by section 501 of that Act (29 U.S.C. 791). 

6 (3) AGE DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT ACT

7 OF 1967.—Section 15 of the Age Discrimination in 

8 Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 633a) is 

9 amended— 

10 (A) in subsection (a)— 

11 (i) by striking ‘‘States) in’’ and insert12 ing ‘‘States) shall be made free from any 

13 discrimination based on age, in—’’; 

14 (ii) by striking ‘‘military depart15 ments’’ and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(1) military departments’’; 

17 (iii) by striking ‘‘Code, in executive 

18 agencies’’ and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘Code; 

20 ‘‘(2) executive agencies’’; 

21 (iv) by striking ‘‘funds), in the United 

22 States Postal’’ and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘funds); 

24 ‘‘(3) the United States Postal’’; 


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1 (v) by striking ‘‘Commission, in those 

2 units’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘Com3 mission; 

4 ‘‘(4) those units’’; 

5 (vi) by striking ‘‘competitive service, 

6 and in those units’’ and inserting the fol7 lowing: ‘‘competitive service; 

8 ‘‘(5) those units’’; 

9 (vii) by striking ‘‘competitive service, 

10 in the Smithsonian’’ and inserting ‘‘com11 petitive service; 

12 ‘‘(6) the Smithsonian’’; 

13 (viii) by striking ‘‘Institution, and in 

14 the Government’’ and inserting ‘‘Institu15 tion; 

16 ‘‘(7) the Government’’; 

17 (ix) by striking ‘‘Printing Office, the 

18 General’’ and inserting ‘‘Printing Office; 

19 ‘‘(8) the General’’; 

20 (x) by striking ‘‘Office, and the Li21 brary’’ and inserting ‘‘Office; and 

22 ‘‘(9) the Library’’; and 

23 (xi) by striking ‘‘of Congress’’ and all 

24 that follows and inserting ‘‘of Congress.’’; 


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1 (B) in subsection (b), by striking the first, 

2 second, third, fourth, and sixth sentences; 

3 (C) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘Any per4 son’’ and inserting ‘‘Notwithstanding any other 

5 provision of this Act, any person’’; 

6 (D) by striking subsection (g) and insert7 ing the following: 

8 ‘‘(g) Except as otherwise provided in another sub9 section of this section, section 7, or section 9, the powers, 

10 remedies, and procedures provided in section 717 of the 

11 Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16) to the 

12 Commission, the Attorney General, the Librarian of Con13 gress, or any person, alleging a violation of that section 

14 shall be the powers, remedies, and procedures this Act 

15 provides to the Commission, the Attorney General, the Li16 brarian of Congress, or any person, respectively, alleging 

17 an unlawful employment practice in violation of subsection 

18 (a) against an employee or applicant for employment de19 scribed in subsection (a).’’; and 

20 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(h) Section 4(g) shall apply to mixed motive claims 

22 (involving practices described in section 4(g)(1)) under 

23 this section.’’. 

24 (f) ADDITIONAL AMENDMENTS TO THE REHABILITA25 TION ACT OF 1973.—Sections 501(f), 503(d), and 504(d) 


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•S 4902 IS

1 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791(f), 

2 793(d), and 794(d)), are each amended by adding after 

3 the words ‘‘title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act 

4 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12111 et seq.)’’ the following: ‘‘, in5 cluding the standards of causation and methods of proof 

6 applied under section 102(e) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 

7 12112(e)),’’. 

8 (g) OTHER GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES.— 

9 (1) CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF

10 1995.—Section 201 of the Congressional Account11 ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1311) is amended— 

12 (A) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘sec13 tion 15 of the Age Discrimination in Employ14 ment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 633a)’’ and in15 serting ‘‘sections 4(g) and 15 of the Age Dis16 crimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 

17 U.S.C. 623(g), 633a)’’; and 

18 (B) in subsection (b)— 

19 (i) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking 

20 ‘‘section 15(c) of the Age Discrimination in 

21 Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 

22 633a(c))’’ and inserting ‘‘section 4(d)(2), 

23 paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 7(b), 

24 and section 15(c) of the Age DiscriminaVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:32 Sep 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00074 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4902.IS S4902

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1 tion in Employment Act of 1967 (29 

2 U.S.C. 623(d)(2), 626(b), 633a(c))’’; and 

3 (ii) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking 

4 ‘‘section 107(a) of the Americans with Dis5 abilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

6 12117(a))’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (a) 

7 and (c) of section 107, and section 

8 503(c)(2), of the Americans with Disabil9 ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12117, 

10 12203)’’. 

11 (2) TITLE 3, UNITED STATES CODE.—Section 

12 411 of title 3, United States Code, is amended— 

13 (A) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘sec14 tion 15 of the Age Discrimination in Employ15 ment Act of 1967’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 4(g) 

16 and 15 of the Age Discrimination in Employ17 ment Act of 1967’’; and 

18 (B) in subsection (b)— 

19 (i) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking 

20 ‘‘section 15(c) of the Age Discrimination in 

21 Employment Act of 1967’’ and inserting 

22 ‘‘section 4(d)(2), paragraphs (1) and (2) of 

23 section 7(b), and section 15(c) of the Age 

24 Discrimination in Employment Act of 

25 1967’’; and 


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1 (ii) in paragraph (3)(A), by striking 

2 ‘‘section 107(a) of the Americans with Dis3 abilities Act of 1990’’ and inserting ‘‘sub4 sections (a) and (c) of section 107, and 

5 section 503(c)(2), of the Americans with 

6 Disabilities Act of 1990’’. 

7 (3) GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE RIGHTS ACT OF

8 1991.—Section 302 of the Government Employee 

9 Rights Act of 1991 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16b) is 

10 amended— 

11 (A) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘sec12 tion 15 of the Age Discrimination in Employ13 ment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 633a)’’ and in14 serting ‘‘sections 4(g) and 15 of the Age Dis15 crimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 

16 U.S.C. 623(g), 633a)’’; and 

17 (B) in subsection (b)— 

18 (i) in paragraph (1), by inserting 

19 ‘‘(and, in the case of a violation of sub20 section (a)(3), sections 107(c) and 

21 503(c)(2) of the Americans with Disabil22 ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12117(c), 

23 12203(c)(2)))’’ before ‘‘, and’’; and 

24 (ii) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘sec25 tion 15(c) of the Age Discrimination in 


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•S 4902 IS

1 Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 

2 633a(c))’’ and inserting ‘‘section 4(d)(2), 

3 paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 7(b), 

4 and section 15(c) of the Age Discrimina5 tion in Employment Act of 1967 (29 

6 U.S.C. 623(d)(2), 626(b), 633a(c))’’. 

7 (h) APPLICATION.—This section, and the amend8 ments made by this section, shall apply to all claims pend9 ing on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

10 SEC. 206. SUPERVISOR LIABILITY. 

11 (a) AMENDMENT TO TITLE VII OF THE CIVIL

12 RIGHTS ACT OF 1964.— 

13 (1) STANDARD FOR EMPLOYER LIABILITY FOR

14 HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT.—Section 703 of the 

15 Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–2), as 

16 amended by 204(c)(1), is further amended by adding 

17 at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(p) Subject to section 206(j) of the BE HEARD in 

19 the Workplace Act, an employer shall be liable for the acts 

20 of any individual whose harassment of an employee has 

21 created or continued a hostile work environment that con22 stitutes an unlawful employment practice under this sec23 tion if, at the time of the harassment— 

24 ‘‘(1) such individual was authorized by that em25 ployer— 


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•S 4902 IS

1 ‘‘(A) to undertake or recommend tangible 

2 employment actions affecting the employee; or 

3 ‘‘(B) to direct the employee’s daily work 

4 activities; or 

5 ‘‘(2) the negligence of the employer led to the 

6 creation or continuation of that hostile work environ7 ment.’’. 

8 (2) STANDARD FOR EMPLOYER LIABILITY FOR

9 RETALIATORY HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT.—Sec10 tion 704 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

11 2000e–3), as amended by section 201(a)(3), is fur12 ther amended— 

13 (A) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub14 section (c); and 

15 (B) by inserting after subsection (a) the 

16 following: 

17 ‘‘(b) Subject to section 206(j) of the BE HEARD in 

18 the Workplace Act, an employer shall be liable for the acts 

19 of any individual whose harassment of an employee has 

20 created or continued a retaliatory hostile work environ21 ment that constitutes an unlawful employment practice as 

22 described under subsection (a) if, at the time of the har23 assment— 

24 ‘‘(1) such individual was authorized by that em25 ployer— 


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1 ‘‘(A) to undertake or recommend tangible 

2 employment actions affecting the employee; or 

3 ‘‘(B) to direct the employee’s daily work 

4 activities; or 

5 ‘‘(2) the negligence of the employer led to the 

6 creation or continuation of that retaliatory hostile 

7 work environment.’’. 

8 (3) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Section 717 of the 

9 Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16), as 

10 amended by section 205(e)(1), is further amended 

11 by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(h) The provisions of sections 703(p) and 704(b) 

13 shall apply to hostile work environment claims and retalia14 tory hostile work environment claims, respectively, under 

15 this section.’’. 

16 (b) AMENDMENT TO THE AGE DISCRIMINATION IN

17 EMPLOYMENT ACT OF 1967.— 

18 (1) STANDARD FOR EMPLOYER LIABILITY FOR

19 HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT.—Section 4 of the 

20 Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 

21 U.S.C. 623), as amended by section 204(c)(4), is 

22 further amended by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(o) Subject to section 206(j) of the BE HEARD in 

24 the Workplace Act, an employer shall be liable for the acts 

25 of any individual whose harassment of an employee has 


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•S 4902 IS

1 created or continued a hostile work environment that is 

2 unlawful under this section if, at the time of the harass3 ment— 

4 ‘‘(1) such individual was authorized by that em5 ployer— 

6 ‘‘(A) to undertake or recommend tangible 

7 employment actions affecting the employee; or 

8 ‘‘(B) to direct the employee’s daily work 

9 activities; or 

10 ‘‘(2) the negligence of the employer led to the 

11 creation or continuation of that hostile work environ12 ment.’’. 

13 (2) STANDARD FOR EMPLOYER LIABILITY FOR

14 RETALIATORY HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT.—Sec15 tion 4(d)(1) of the Age Discrimination in Employ16 ment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 623(d)(1)), as amend17 ed by section 205(c)(2), is further amended by strik18 ing ‘‘or litigation under this Act.’’ and inserting ‘‘or 

19 litigation under this Act. Subject to section 206(j) of 

20 the BE HEARD in the Workplace Act, an employer 

21 shall be liable for the acts of any individual whose 

22 harassment of an employee has created or continued 

23 a retaliatory hostile work environment that is unlaw24 ful under this subsection if, at the time of the har25 assment— 


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1 ‘‘(A) such individual was authorized by 

2 that employer— 

3 ‘‘(i) to undertake or recommend tan4 gible employment actions affecting the em5 ployee; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) to direct the employee’s daily 

7 work activities; or 

8 ‘‘(B) the negligence of the employer led to 

9 the creation or continuation of that retaliatory 

10 hostile work environment.’’. 

11 (3) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—Section 15 of the 

12 Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 

13 U.S.C. 633a), as amended by section 205(e)(3), is 

14 further amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(i) Subsections (d) and (o) of section 4 shall apply 

16 to retaliatory hostile work environment claims and hostile 

17 work environment claims, respectively, under this sec18 tion.’’. 

19 (c) AMENDMENT TO THE AMERICANS WITH DISABIL20 ITIES ACT OF 1990.— 

21 (1) STANDARD FOR EMPLOYER LIABILITY FOR

22 HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT.—Section 102 of the 

23 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

24 12112), as amended by section 205(b)(2), is further 

25 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(f) Subject to section 206(j) of the BE HEARD in 

2 the Workplace Act, an employer shall be liable for the acts 

3 of any individual whose harassment of an employee has 

4 created or continued a hostile work environment that con5 stitutes discrimination against a qualified individual on 

6 the basis of disability under this section if, at the time 

7 of the harassment— 

8 ‘‘(1) such individual was authorized by the em9 ployer— 

10 ‘‘(A) to undertake or recommend tangible 

11 employment actions affecting the qualified indi12 vidual; or 

13 ‘‘(B) to direct the qualified individual’s 

14 daily work activities; or 

15 ‘‘(2) the negligence of the employer led to the 

16 creation or continuation of that hostile work environ17 ment.’’. 

18 (2) STANDARD FOR EMPLOYER LIABILITY FOR

19 RETALIATORY HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT.—Sec20 tion 503 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 

21 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12203) is amended— 

22 (A) by redesignating subsection (c) as sub23 section (d); 

24 (B) by inserting after subsection (b) the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(c) Subject to section 206(j) of the BE HEARD in 

2 the Workplace Act, an employer shall be liable for the acts 

3 of any individual whose harassment of an employee has 

4 created or continued a retaliatory hostile work environ5 ment that constitutes retaliatory discrimination, as de6 scribed in subsection (a), or the carrying out of any unlaw7 ful acts described in subsection (b), if, at the time of the 

8 harassment— 

9 ‘‘(1) such individual was authorized by the em10 ployer— 

11 ‘‘(A) to undertake or recommend tangible 

12 employment actions affecting the employee; or 

13 ‘‘(B) to direct the employee’s daily work 

14 activities; or 

15 ‘‘(2) the negligence of the employer led to the 

16 creation or continuation of that retaliatory hostile 

17 work environment.’’; and 

18 (C) in subsection (d), as redesignated by 

19 subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘subsections (a) 

20 and (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (a), (b), 

21 and (c)’’. 

22 (d) AMENDMENT TO THE REHABILITATION ACT OF

23 1973.— 

24 (1) STANDARD FOR EMPLOYER LIABILITY FOR

25 HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT AND RETALIATORY


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1 HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT.—Section 501 of the 

2 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791) is 

3 amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(h) Subject to section 206(j) of the BE HEARD in 

5 the Workplace Act, each department, agency, and instru6 mentality in the executive branch of Government and the 

7 Smithsonian Institution shall be liable for the acts of any 

8 individual within such department, agency, instrumen9 tality, or the Smithsonian Institution whose harassment 

10 of an individual with a disability has created or continued 

11 a hostile work environment, or a retaliatory hostile work 

12 environment, that constitutes nonaffirmative action em13 ployment discrimination under this section if, at the time 

14 of the harassment— 

15 ‘‘(1) such individual was authorized by that de16 partment, agency, instrumentality, or the Smithso17 nian Institution— 

18 ‘‘(A) to undertake or recommend tangible 

19 employment actions affecting the individual 

20 with a disability; or 

21 ‘‘(B) to direct the daily work activities of 

22 the individual with a disability; or 

23 ‘‘(2) the negligence of that department, agency, 

24 instrumentality, or the Smithsonian Institution led 

25 to the creation or continuation of that hostile work 


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•S 4902 IS

1 environment or retaliatory hostile work environ2 ment.’’. 

3 (2) STANDARD FOR EMPLOYER LIABILITY FOR

4 HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT AND RETALIATORY

5 HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT.—Section 504 of the 

6 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794) is 

7 amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(e) Subject to section 206(j) of the BE HEARD in 

9 the Workplace Act, an employer described under sub10 section (b) shall be liable for the acts of any individual 

11 whose harassment of a qualified individual with a dis12 ability has created or continued a hostile work environ13 ment, or a retaliatory hostile work environment, that con14 stitutes employment discrimination under this section if, 

15 at the time of the harassment— 

16 ‘‘(1) such individual was authorized by such 

17 employer— 

18 ‘‘(A) to undertake or recommend tangible 

19 employment actions affecting the qualified indi20 vidual with a disability; or 

21 ‘‘(B) to direct the daily work activities of 

22 the qualified individual with a disability; or 

23 ‘‘(2) the negligence of such employer led to the 

24 creation or continuation of that hostile work environ25 ment or retaliatory hostile work environment.’’. 


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1 (3) REMEDIES.—Section 505 of the Rehabilita2 tion Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794a) is amended by 

3 adding at the end of subsection (a) the following: 

4 ‘‘(3) Sections 501(h) and 504(e) shall apply to 

5 hostile work environment claims and retaliatory hos6 tile work environment claims under this section.’’. 

7 (e) AMENDMENT TO SECTION 1977 OF THE REVISED

8 STATUTES.—Section 1977 of the Revised Statutes (42 

9 U.S.C. 1981) is amended by adding at the end the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(d) Subject to section 206(j) of the BE HEARD in 

12 the Workplace Act, a nongovernmental employer shall be 

13 liable for the acts of any individual whose harassment of 

14 an employee has created a hostile work environment or 

15 a retaliatory hostile work environment, constituting an un16 lawful employment practice, if, at the time of the harass17 ment— 

18 ‘‘(1) such individual was authorized by the em19 ployer— 

20 ‘‘(A) to undertake or recommend tangible 

21 employment actions affecting the employee; or 

22 ‘‘(B) to direct the employee’s daily work 

23 activities; or 


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1 ‘‘(2) the negligence of the employer led to the 

2 creation or continuation of that hostile work environ3 ment or retaliatory hostile work environment.’’. 

4 (f) AMENDMENT TO THE GENETIC INFORMATION

5 NONDISCRIMINATION ACT OF 2008.— 

6 (1) STANDARD FOR EMPLOYER LIABILITY FOR

7 HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT.—Section 202 of the 

8 Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 

9 (42 U.S.C. 2000ff–1), as amended by sections 

10 204(c)(5) and 205(b)(4), is further amended by add11 ing at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(f) Subject to section 206(j) of the BE HEARD in 

13 the Workplace Act, an employer shall be liable for the acts 

14 of any individual whose harassment of an employee has 

15 created or continued a hostile work environment that con16 stitutes an unlawful employment practice under this sec17 tion if, at the time of the harassment— 

18 ‘‘(1) such individual was authorized by the em19 ployer— 

20 ‘‘(A) to undertake or recommend tangible 

21 employment actions affecting the employee; or 

22 ‘‘(B) to direct the employee’s daily work 

23 activities; or 


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•S 4902 IS

1 ‘‘(2) the negligence of the employer led to the 

2 creation or continuation of that hostile work environ3 ment.’’. 

4 (2) STANDARD FOR EMPLOYER LIABILITY FOR

5 RETALIATORY HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT.—Sec6 tion 207(f)(1) of the Genetic Information Non7 discrimination Act (42 U.S.C. 2000ff–6(f)(1)), as 

8 amended by section 205(c)(2), is further amended 

9 by striking ‘‘violations of this subsection.’’ and in10 serting ‘‘violations of this subsection. Subject to sec11 tion 206(j) of the BE HEARD in the Workplace 

12 Act, an employer shall be liable for the acts of any 

13 individual whose harassment of an employee has cre14 ated or continued a retaliatory hostile work environ15 ment that constitutes discrimination under this sub16 section if, at the time of the harassment— 

17 ‘‘(A) such individual was authorized by the 

18 employer— 

19 ‘‘(i) to undertake or recommend tan20 gible employment actions affecting the em21 ployee; or 

22 ‘‘(ii) to direct the employee’s daily 

23 work activities; or 


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•S 4902 IS

1 ‘‘(B) the negligence of the employer led to 

2 the creation or continuation of that retaliatory 

3 hostile work environment.’’. 

4 (g) AMENDMENT TO THE GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE

5 RIGHTS ACT OF 1991.—Section 302 of the Government 

6 Employee Rights Act of 1991 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16b) is 

7 amended by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(c) Subject to section 206(j) of the BE HEARD in 

9 the Workplace Act, an employer of an individual described 

10 under section 304(a) shall be liable for the acts of any 

11 individual whose harassment of a State employee de12 scribed in section 304 has created or continued a hostile 

13 work environment or a retaliatory hostile work environ14 ment constituting discrimination under this section, if at 

15 the time of the harassment— 

16 ‘‘(1) such individual was authorized by such 

17 employer— 

18 ‘‘(A) to undertake or recommend tangible 

19 employment actions affecting the employee; or 

20 ‘‘(B) to direct the employee’s daily work 

21 activities; or 

22 ‘‘(2) the negligence of the employer led to the 

23 creation or continuation of that hostile work environ24 ment or retaliatory hostile work environment.’’. 


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•S 4902 IS

1 (h) AMENDMENT TO TITLE 3, UNITED STATES

2 CODE.—Section 411 of title 3, United States Code, is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) by redesignating subsections (c) through (f) 

5 as subsections (d) through (g), respectively; 

6 (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(c) LIABILITY OF EMPLOYING OFFICE.—Subject to 

9 section 206(j) of the BE HEARD in the Workplace Act, 

10 an employing office shall be liable for the acts of any indi11 vidual whose harassment of a covered employee has cre12 ated or continued a hostile work environment or a retalia13 tory hostile work environment constituting discrimination 

14 under this section if, at the time of the harassment— 

15 ‘‘(1) such individual was authorized by the em16 ploying office— 

17 ‘‘(A) to undertake or recommend tangible 

18 employment actions affecting the covered em19 ployee; or 

20 ‘‘(B) to direct the covered employee’s daily 

21 work activities; or 

22 ‘‘(2) the negligence of the employing office led 

23 to the creation or continuation of that hostile work 

24 environment or retaliatory hostile work environ25 ment.’’; and 


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1 (3) in subsection (f), as redesignated by para2 graph (1), by striking ‘‘subsections (a) through (c)’’ 

3 and inserting ‘‘subsections (a) through (d).’’. 

4 (i) AMENDMENT TO THE CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNT5 ABILITY ACT OF 1995.—Section 201 of the Congressional 

6 Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1311) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking subsection (e); and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(e) OUTSIDE INDIVIDUALS.—Subject to section 

10 206(j) of the BE HEARD in the Workplace Act, an em11 ploying office shall be liable for the acts of any individual 

12 whose harassment of a covered employee has created or 

13 continued a hostile work environment or a retaliatory hos14 tile work environment that constitutes discrimination 

15 under this section if, at the time of the harassment— 

16 ‘‘(1) such individual was authorized by the em17 ploying office— 

18 ‘‘(A) to undertake or recommend tangible 

19 employment actions affecting the covered em20 ployee; or 

21 ‘‘(B) to direct the covered employee’s daily 

22 work activities; or 

23 ‘‘(2) the negligence of the employing office led 

24 to the creation or continuation of that hostile work 


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•S 4902 IS

1 environment or retaliatory hostile work environ2 ment.’’. 

3 (j) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec4 tion shall be construed to limit the availability of, or access 

5 to, defenses available under the law. 

6 (k) APPLICATION.—This section, and the amend7 ments made by this section, shall apply to all claims pend8 ing on or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

9 SEC. 207. EXTENDING THE STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS. 

10 (a) CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964; AMERICANS WITH

11 DISABILITIES ACT OF 1990; GENETIC INFORMATION

12 NONDISCRIMINATION ACT OF 2008.—Section 706 of the 

13 Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–5) is amend14 ed— 

15 (1) in subsection (e)— 

16 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

17 (i) by striking ‘‘one hundred and 

18 eighty days after the alleged unlawful em19 ployment practice occurred’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘4 years after the alleged unlawful employ21 ment practice occurred.’’; and 

22 (ii) by striking ‘‘three hundred days 

23 after the alleged unlawful employment 

24 practice occurred’’ and inserting ‘‘4 years 


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1 and 120 days after the alleged unlawful 

2 employment practice occurred.’’; and 

3 (B) in paragraph (3)(B), by striking ‘‘two 

4 years preceding the filing of the charge’’ and all 

5 that follows and inserting ‘‘4 years and 120 

6 days preceding the filing of the charge.’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (g)(1), by striking ‘‘two years 

8 prior to the filing of a charge’’ and inserting ‘‘4 

9 years and 120 days preceding the filing of the 

10 charge’’. 

11 (b) AGE DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT ACT OF

12 1967.—Section 7(d) of the Age Discrimination in Employ13 ment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 626(d)) is amended— 

14 (1) in the second sentence, by redesignating 

15 paragraphs (1) and (2) as subparagraphs (A) and 

16 (B), respectively; 

17 (2) by striking ‘‘(d)’’ and all that follows 

18 through ‘‘No’’ and inserting ‘‘(d)(1) No’’; and 

19 (3) in paragraph (1), as designated by para20 graph (2) of this subsection— 

21 (A) by striking ‘‘Secretary. Such’’ and in22 serting ‘‘Secretary, and such’’; 

23 (B) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘180 

24 days after the alleged unlawful practice ocVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:32 Sep 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00093 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4902.IS S4902

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1 curred’’ and inserting ‘‘4 years after the alleged 

2 unlawful practice occurred’’; and 

3 (C) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘300 

4 days after the alleged unlawful practice oc5 curred’’ and inserting ‘‘4 years and 120 days 

6 after the alleged unlawful practice occurred’’. 

7 SEC. 208. EXTENDING THE TIME LIMITATIONS ON FEDERAL 

8 EMPLOYEES FILING A COMPLAINT. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Equal Employment Oppor10 tunity Commission (referred to in this section as ‘‘the 

11 Commission’’) shall ensure that a covered Federal em12 ployee shall not be required to take any action necessary 

13 to bring a complaint to the department, agency, unit, or 

14 instrumentality involved prior to 4 years from the date of 

15 the matter alleged to be discriminatory or, in the case of 

16 personnel action, 4 years from the effective date of the 

17 personnel action. 

18 (b) COVERED EMPLOYEES AND COMPLAINTS.—In 

19 this section, the term ‘‘covered Federal employee’’ 

20 means— 

21 (1) an employee or applicant to whom section 

22 717(a) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

23 2000e–16(a)) applies, in the case of a complaint 

24 brought under section 717 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 

25 2000e–16); 


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1 (2) an employee or applicant to whom section 

2 15(a) of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act 

3 of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 633a(a)) applies, in the case of 

4 a complaint brought under section 15 of that Act 

5 (29 U.S.C. 633a); 

6 (3) an employee or applicant to whom section 

7 501 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

8 791) applies, in the case of a complaint brought to 

9 enforce that section under section 505 of that Act 

10 (29 U.S.C. 794a); and 

11 (4) an employee or applicant described in sec12 tion 201(2)(A)(v) of the Genetic Information Non13 discrimination Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 

14 2000ff(2)(A)(v)), in the case of a complaint brought 

15 to enforce title II of that Act (42 U.S.C. 2000ff et 

16 seq.) under section 207(e) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 2000ff–6(e)). 

18 TITLE III—BROADENING PRO19 TECTIONS AND ENSURING 

20 TRANSPARENCY 

21 SEC. 301. INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS, INTERNS, FEL22 LOWS, VOLUNTEERS, AND TRAINEES. 

23 (a) COVERED EMPLOYER OR ENTITY.—All protec24 tions afforded to an employee or individual under a provi25 sion that consists of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 


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1 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), the Government Em2 ployee Rights Act of 1991 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16a et seq.), 

3 the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 

4 1301 et seq.), subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 3, United 

5 States Code, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act 

6 of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et seq.), title I and section 503 

7 (for violations with respect to that title) of the Americans 

8 with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12111 et seq., 

9 12203), sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act 

10 of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791, 794a), section 6(d) of the Fair 

11 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (commonly known as the 

12 ‘‘Equal Pay Act of 1963’’) (29 U.S.C. 206(d)), title II 

13 of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 

14 (42 U.S.C. 2000ff et seq.), and section 4311 of title 38, 

15 United States Code, shall be afforded, in the same manner 

16 and to the same extent, to— 

17 (1) an individual who is engaged by an em18 ployer or entity covered by that provision (referred 

19 to in this subsection as a ‘‘covered employer or enti20 ty’’) as an independent contractor (regardless of 

21 business structure, including organization as a legal 

22 or commercial entity) or as an intern, fellow, volun23 teer, or trainee, whether or not the individual re24 ceives compensation, academic credit, or other remu25 neration from the covered employer or entity; or 


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1 (2) an individual who applies or seeks to be2 come such an independent contractor (regardless of 

3 business structure, including organization as a legal 

4 or commercial entity), intern, fellow, volunteer, or 

5 trainee, for the covered employer or entity. 

6 (b) COVERED ESTABLISHMENTS.— 

7 (1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

8 ‘‘covered establishment’’ means an individual or enti9 ty that— 

10 (A) is not acting as an employer or entity 

11 covered by a provision specified in subsection 

12 (a); and 

13 (B) engages the services (including solic14 iting such services) of an independent con15 tractor (regardless of business structure, includ16 ing organization as a legal or commercial enti17 ty), intern, fellow, volunteer, or trainee by 

18 means of an instrument of transportation or 

19 communication in interstate commerce, or 

20 through an arrangement that involves the use 

21 of such an instrument to carry out or be con22 veyed to carry out those services. 

23 (2) PROTECTIONS.—All protections afforded to 

24 an employee or individual under a provision that 

25 consists of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 


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1 the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, 

2 title I and section 503 (for violations with respect to 

3 that title) of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 

4 1990, section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act 

5 of 1938, title II of the Genetic Information Non6 discrimination Act of 2008, and section 4311 of title 

7 38, United States Code, shall be afforded, in the 

8 same manner and to the same extent that the provi9 sion covers an individual described in section 701(f) 

10 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

11 2000e(f)), to— 

12 (A) an individual who is engaged by a cov13 ered establishment as an independent con14 tractor (regardless of business structure, includ15 ing organization as a legal or commercial enti16 ty) or as an intern, fellow, volunteer, or trainee, 

17 whether or not the individual receives com18 pensation, academic credit, or other remunera19 tion from the covered establishment; or 

20 (B) an individual who applies or seeks to 

21 become such an independent contractor (regard22 less of business structure, including organiza23 tion as a legal or commercial entity), intern, fel24 low, volunteer, or trainee, for the covered estab25 lishment. 


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1 (c) DOMESTIC SERVICE.—For purposes of the provi2 sions listed in subsection (a) and the provisions of this 

3 Act, an individual or entity who engages the services (by 

4 means of an instrument of transportation or communica5 tion in interstate commerce, or through an arrangement 

6 that involves the use of such an instrument to carry out 

7 or be conveyed to carry out those services) of a person 

8 in domestic service in a household, as an employee, or as 

9 an independent contractor, intern, fellow, volunteer, or 

10 trainee, referred to in subsection (a) or (b) shall be consid11 ered to be engaged in interstate commerce. 

12 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec13 tion shall be construed to limit the individuals protected 

14 under any provision described in subsection (a). 

15 (e) INTERSTATE COMMERCE.—In this section, the 

16 term ‘‘interstate commerce’’ means Commerce (as defined 

17 in section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 

18 U.S.C. 203)) among the several States. 

19 SEC. 302. NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS. 

20 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

22 means the Equal Employment Opportunity Commis23 sion. 


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1 (2) COVERED ESTABLISHMENT.—The term 

2 ‘‘covered establishment’’ has the meaning given the 

3 term in section 301. 

4 (3) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—The term ‘‘covered 

5 individual’’ means— 

6 (A) in the case of an individual required to 

7 be afforded protections under section 301(a)— 

8 (i) an individual required to be af9 forded those protections by an employer 

10 described in paragraph (5)(A); 

11 (ii) an individual required to be af12 forded those protections by an employer 

13 described in paragraph (5)(B); 

14 (iii) an individual required to be af15 forded those protections by an employer 

16 described in paragraph (5)(C); 

17 (iv) an individual required to be af18 forded those protections by an employer 

19 described in paragraph (5)(D); or 

20 (v) an individual required to be af21 forded those protections by an employer 

22 described in paragraph (5)(E); and 

23 (B) in the case of an individual required to 

24 be afforded protections under section 301(b) by 

25 a covered establishment, that individual. 


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1 (4) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ 

2 means— 

3 (A) an employee (including an applicant), 

4 as defined in section 701(f) of the Civil Rights 

5 Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e(f)); 

6 (B) a State employee (including an appli7 cant) described in section 304(a) of the Govern8 ment Employee Rights Act of 1991 (42 U.S.C. 

9 2000e–16c(a)); 

10 (C) a covered employee (including an appli11 cant), as defined in section 101 of the Congres12 sional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 

13 1301), including an individual treated as a cov14 ered employee under that section; 

15 (D) a covered employee (including an ap16 plicant), as defined in section 411(c) of title 3, 

17 United States Code; or 

18 (E) an employee or applicant to which sec19 tion 717(a) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

20 U.S.C. 2000e–16(a)) applies. 

21 (5) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’ 

22 means— 

23 (A) an employer (as defined in section 

24 701(b) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

25 U.S.C. 2000e(b))); 


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1 (B) an entity employing a State employee 

2 described in section 304(a) of the Government 

3 Employee Rights Act of 1991; 

4 (C) an employing office, as defined in sec5 tion 101(a) of the Congressional Accountability 

6 Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301(a)); 

7 (D) an employing office, as defined in sec8 tion 411(c) of title 3, United States Code; or 

9 (E) an entity to which section 717(a) of 

10 the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies. 

11 (6) NONDISCLOSURE CLAUSE.—The term ‘‘non12 disclosure clause’’ means a provision in a contract or 

13 agreement establishing that each party to the con14 tract or agreement agrees not to disclose informa15 tion covered by the terms and conditions of the con16 tract or agreement. 

17 (7) NONDISPARAGEMENT CLAUSE.—The term 

18 ‘‘nondisparagement clause’’ means a provision in a 

19 contract or agreement requiring one or more parties 

20 to the contract or agreement not to make negative 

21 statements about another such party. 

22 (8) WORKER.—The term ‘‘worker’’ means an 

23 employee or a covered individual. 

24 (b) UNLAWFUL PRACTICES.— 


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1 (1) NONDISPARAGEMENT AND NONDISCLOSURE

2 CLAUSES.—Subject to paragraph (3), it shall be an 

3 unlawful practice for an employer to proffer or to 

4 enter into a contract or agreement with a worker, or 

5 for a covered establishment to proffer or to enter 

6 into a contract or agreement with a covered indi7 vidual, as a condition of employment or contracting, 

8 promotion, compensation, benefits, or change in em9 ployment status or contractual relationship, or as a 

10 term, condition, or privilege of employment or con11 tracting, if that contract or agreement contains a 

12 nondisparagement clause or nondisclosure clause 

13 that covers prohibited harassment or other prohib14 ited discrimination in employment or contracting, or 

15 retaliation for reporting, resisting, opposing, or as16 sisting in the investigation of such harassment or 

17 other discrimination. 

18 (2) PROHIBITION ON ENFORCEMENT.—Subject 

19 to paragraph (3) but notwithstanding any other pro20 vision of law, it shall be an unlawful practice for an 

21 employer or covered establishment to enforce or at22 tempt to enforce a nondisparagement clause or non23 disclosure clause that covers prohibited harassment 

24 or other prohibited discrimination in employment or 

25 contracting, or retaliation for reporting, resisting, 


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1 opposing, or assisting in the investigation of such 

2 harassment or other discrimination. An employer or 

3 covered establishment that enforces or attempts to 

4 enforce such a nondisparagement clause or such a 

5 nondisclosure clause against a worker shall be liable 

6 for the reasonable attorney’s fees and costs of the 

7 worker. 

8 (3) SETTLEMENT OR SEPARATION AGREE9 MENTS.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The provisions of para11 graphs (1) and (2) do not apply to a nondispar12 agement clause or nondisclosure clause con13 tained in a settlement agreement or separation 

14 agreement that resolves legal claims or disputes 

15 if— 

16 (i) such legal claims accrued or such 

17 disputes arose before the settlement agree18 ment or separation agreement was exe19 cuted; 

20 (ii) the clause involved is mutually 

21 agreed upon by both— 

22 (I) the employer or covered es23 tablishment, as the case may be; and 

24 (II) the worker; 


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1 (iii) the worker’s agreement to such 

2 clause is knowing and voluntary, as de3 scribed in subparagraph (C); 

4 (iv) the clause involved is limited to 

5 statements made with knowledge of their 

6 falsity or with reckless disregard for their 

7 truth or falsity; 

8 (v) the clause involved prohibits the 

9 employer or covered establishment from 

10 publicly disclosing the name of a victim of 

11 an alleged act of prohibited harassment or 

12 other prohibited discrimination, or dis13 closing any information that would reason14 ably lead to the disclosure of the identity 

15 of such a victim; and 

16 (vi) the settlement agreement or sepa17 ration agreement expressly states that the 

18 agreement involved does not prohibit, pre19 vent, or otherwise restrict a worker from— 

20 (I) filing a charge or complaint 

21 with the Commission, any other Fed22 eral, State, or local agency with the 

23 authority to enforce laws (including 

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1 ment or contracting, as the case may 

2 be, or law enforcement; 

3 (II) testifying at, assisting, or 

4 participating in an investigation or 

5 proceeding conducted by the Commis6 sion, any other Federal, State, or local 

7 agency with the authority to enforce 

8 laws (including regulations) that pro9 hibit discrimination, including harass10 ment, in employment or contracting, 

11 as the case may be, or law enforce12 ment; or 

13 (III) testifying in a hearing or 

14 trial or complying with a request for 

15 discovery in relation to civil litigation. 

16 (B) PROHIBITION ON SOLE BENEFIT.—For 

17 purposes of this paragraph, it shall be an un18 lawful practice for an employer or covered es19 tablishment to unilaterally include a nondispar20 agement clause or nondisclosure clause that 

21 solely benefits the employer or covered estab22 lishment in a separation or settlement agree23 ment. 

24 (C) KNOWING AND VOLUNTARY AGREE25 MENT.—For purposes of this paragraph, agreeVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:32 Sep 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00106 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4902.IS S4902

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1 ment to a nondisparagement clause or non2 disclosure clause may not be considered know3 ing and voluntary unless at a minimum— 

4 (i) the nondisparagement clause or 

5 nondisclosure clause is written in a manner 

6 designed to ensure that the worker under7 stands the content of the clause involved; 

8 (ii) the nondisparagement clause or 

9 nondisclosure clause is included only in ex10 change for consideration of value provided 

11 to the worker, in addition to anything of 

12 value to which the worker is already enti13 tled; 

14 (iii) the nondisparagement clause or 

15 nondisclosure clause does not apply to any 

16 rights or claims that arise after the date 

17 the settlement or separation agreement is 

18 executed; 

19 (iv) the worker is advised in writing to 

20 consult with an attorney prior to agreeing 

21 to such an agreement that includes a non22 disparagement clause or nondisclosure 

23 clause; 

24 (v) the worker is given a period of at 

25 least 21 days to consider any proposal for 


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1 a settlement or separation agreement that 

2 includes a nondisparagement clause or 

3 nondisclosure clause; and 

4 (vi) the settlement or separation 

5 agreement provides that for a period of at 

6 least 7 days following the execution of such 

7 agreement the worker may revoke the 

8 agreement, and the agreement shall not be9 come effective or enforceable until the rev10 ocation period has expired. 

11 (D) BURDEN OF PROOF.—In any dispute 

12 that may arise over whether any of the require13 ments of subparagraph (A) have been met, the 

14 party asserting the validity of an agreement 

15 shall have the burden of proving that the re16 quirements of subparagraph (A) have been met. 

17 (E) FINANCIAL TERMS.—Notwithstanding 

18 subparagraph (A)(iv), the financial terms of the 

19 settlement or separation covered by the agree20 ment may be included in a nondisclosure clause 

21 of the agreement if the nondisclosure of the fi22 nancial terms is limited to a specified period of 

23 time. The nondisclosure clause shall not pro24 hibit discussion of the financial terms of the 


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•S 4902 IS

1 settlement or separation with an accountant or 

2 financial advisor. 

3 (F) PARTICIPATION IN INVESTIGATIONS OR

4 PROCEEDINGS.—No nondisparagement clause 

5 or nondisclosure clause may affect the ability of 

6 a worker to testify at, assist, or participate in 

7 an investigation or proceeding conducted by the 

8 Commission, any Federal, State, or local agency 

9 with the authority to enforce laws (including 

10 regulations) that prohibit discrimination in em11 ployment or contracting, as the case may be, or 

12 a law enforcement agency. 

13 (G) PROHIBITION ON DAMAGES.—Under 

14 no circumstances shall a worker be required to 

15 pay damages for breach of a nondisparagement 

16 clause or nondisclosure clause permitted by this 

17 paragraph in excess of an amount equal to the 

18 consideration of value provided to the worker in 

19 exchange for the workers’ agreement to the 

20 nondisparagement clause or nondisclosure 

21 clause. 

22 (c) ENFORCEMENT AGAINST EMPLOYERS.— 

23 (1) ENFORCEMENT POWERS.—With respect to 

24 the administration and enforcement of this section 


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1 in the case of a claim alleged by a worker against 

2 an employer for a violation of this section— 

3 (A) the Commission shall have the same 

4 powers as the Commission has to administer 

5 and enforce— 

6 (i) title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 

7 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.); or 

8 (ii) sections 302 and 304 of the Gov9 ernment Employee Rights Act of 1991 (42 

10 U.S.C. 2000e–16b and 2000e–16c), 

11 in the case of a claim alleged by an employee 

12 of the employer for a violation of such title, or 

13 of section 302(a)(1) of the Government Em14 ployee Rights Act of 1991 (42 U.S.C. 2000e– 

15 16b(a)(1)), respectively; 

16 (B) the Librarian of Congress shall have 

17 the same powers as the Librarian of Congress 

18 has to administer and enforce title VII of the 

19 Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et 

20 seq.) in the case of a claim alleged by an em21 ployee of the employer for a violation of such 

22 title; 

23 (C) the Board (as defined in section 

24 101(a) of the Congressional Accountability Act 

25 of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301(a))) shall have the 


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1 same powers as the Board has to administer 

2 and enforce the Congressional Accountability 

3 Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) in the case 

4 of a claim alleged by an employee of the em5 ployer for a violation of section 201(a)(1) of 

6 such Act (2 U.S.C. 1311(a)(1)); 

7 (D) the Attorney General shall have the 

8 same powers as the Attorney General has to ad9 minister and enforce— 

10 (i) title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 

11 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.); or 

12 (ii) sections 302 and 304 of the Gov13 ernment Employee Rights Act of 1991 (42 

14 U.S.C. 2000e–16b and 2000e–16c), 

15 in the case of a claim alleged by an employee 

16 of the employer for a violation of such title, or 

17 of section 302(a)(1) of the Government Em18 ployee Rights Act of 1991 (42 U.S.C. 2000e– 

19 16b(a)(1)), respectively; 

20 (E) the President, the Commission, and 

21 the Merit Systems Protection Board shall have 

22 the same powers as the President, the Commis23 sion, and the Board, respectively, have to ad24 minister and enforce chapter 5 of title 3, 

25 United States Code, in the case of a claim alVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:32 Sep 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00111 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4902.IS S4902

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1 leged by an employee of the employer for a vio2 lation of section 411 of such title; and 

3 (F) a court of the United States shall have 

4 the same jurisdiction and powers as the court 

5 has to enforce— 

6 (i) title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 

7 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.) in the case 

8 of a claim alleged by an employee of the 

9 employer for a violation of such title; 

10 (ii) sections 302 and 304 of the Gov11 ernment Employee Rights Act of 1991 (42 

12 U.S.C. 2000e–16b and 2000e–16c) in the 

13 case of a claim alleged by an employee of 

14 the employer for a violation of section 

15 302(a)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 2000e– 

16 16b(a)(1)); 

17 (iii) the Congressional Accountability 

18 Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.) in the 

19 case of a claim alleged by an employee of 

20 the employer for a violation of section 

21 201(a)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C. 

22 1311(a)(1)); and 

23 (iv) chapter 5 of title 3, United States 

24 Code, in the case of a claim alleged by an 


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•S 4902 IS

1 employee of the employer for a violation of 

2 section 411 of such title. 

3 (2) PROCEDURES AND REMEDIES.—The proce4 dures and remedies applicable to a claim alleged by 

5 a worker against the employer for a violation of this 

6 section are— 

7 (A) the procedures and remedies applicable 

8 for a violation of title VII of the Civil Rights 

9 Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.) in the 

10 case of a claim alleged by an employee of the 

11 employer for a violation of such title; 

12 (B) the procedures and remedies applicable 

13 for a violation of section 302(a)(1) of the Gov14 ernment Employee Rights Act of 1991 (42 

15 U.S.C. 2000e–16b(a)(1)) in the case of a claim 

16 alleged by an employee of the employer for a 

17 violation of such section; 

18 (C) the procedures and remedies applicable 

19 for a violation of section 201(a)(1) of the Con20 gressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 

21 1311(a)(1)) in the case of a claim alleged by an 

22 employee of the employer for a violation of such 

23 section; and 

24 (D) the procedures and remedies applicable 

25 for a violation of section 411 of title 3, United 


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•S 4902 IS

1 States Code, in the case of a claim alleged by 

2 an employee of the employer for a violation of 

3 such section. 

4 (3) OTHER APPLICABLE PROVISIONS.—With re5 spect to a claim alleged by an employee described in 

6 subsection (a)(4)(C) or a covered individual de7 scribed in subsection (a)(3)(A)(iii) for a violation of 

8 this section, title III of the Congressional Account9 ability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.) shall 

10 apply in the same manner as such title applies with 

11 respect to a claim alleged by such an employee for 

12 a violation of section 201(a)(1) of such Act (2 

13 U.S.C. 1311(a)(1)). 

14 (d) ENFORCEMENT AGAINST COVERED ESTABLISH15 MENTS.— 

16 (1) ENFORCEMENT POWERS.—With respect to 

17 the administration and enforcement of this section 

18 in the case of a claim alleged by a covered individual 

19 against a covered establishment for a violation of 

20 this section— 

21 (A) the Commission shall have the same 

22 powers as the Commission has to administer 

23 and enforce title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 

24 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.); 


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1 (B) the Attorney General shall have the 

2 same powers as the Attorney General has to ad3 minister and enforce title VII of the Civil 

4 Rights Act of 1964; and 

5 (C) a court of the United States shall have 

6 the same jurisdiction and powers as the court 

7 has to enforce title VII of the Civil Rights Act 

8 of 1964, 

9 in the case of a claim alleged by an employee de10 scribed in subsection (a)(4)(A) for a violation of 

11 such title. 

12 (2) PROCEDURES AND REMEDIES.—The proce13 dures and remedies applicable to a claim alleged by 

14 a covered individual against the covered establish15 ment for a violation of this section are the proce16 dures and remedies applicable for a violation of title 

17 VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

18 2000e et seq.) in the case of a claim alleged by an 

19 employee described in subsection (a)(4)(A) for a vio20 lation of such title. 

21 (e) RIGHT TO REPORT RESERVED.—Notwith22 standing signing (before, on, or after the effective date of 

23 this Act) any nondisparagement clause or nondisclosure 

24 clause, a worker retains— 


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1 (1) any right that person would otherwise have 

2 had to report a concern about harassment, including 

3 sexual harassment, in employment or contracting or 

4 another violation of the law to the Commission, an5 other Federal agency (including an office of the leg6 islative or judicial branch), a State or local fair em7 ployment practices agency or any other State or 

8 local agency, or a law enforcement agency; and 

9 (2) any right that person would otherwise have 

10 had to bring an action in a court of the United 

11 States. 

12 (f) REGULATIONS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para14 graphs (2), (3), and (4), the Commission shall have 

15 authority to issue regulations to carry out this sec16 tion. 

17 (2) LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS.—The Librarian 

18 of Congress shall have authority to issue regulations 

19 to carry out this section with respect to workers of 

20 the Library of Congress. 

21 (3) BOARD.—The Board referred to in sub22 section (c)(1)(C) shall have authority to issue regu23 lations to carry out this section, in accordance with 

24 section 304 of the Congressional Accountability Act 

25 of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1384), with respect to employees 


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1 described in subsection (a)(4)(C) and covered indi2 viduals described in subsection (a)(3)(A)(iii). 

3 (4) PRESIDENT.—The President shall have au4 thority to issue regulations to carry out this section 

5 with respect to employees described in subsection 

6 (a)(4)(D) and covered individuals described in sub7 section (a)(3)(A)(iv). 

8 (g) STATE AND FEDERAL IMMUNITY.— 

9 (1) ABROGATION OF STATE IMMUNITY.—A 

10 State shall not be immune under the 11th Amend11 ment to the Constitution from a suit brought in a 

12 Federal court of competent jurisdiction for a viola13 tion of this section. 

14 (2) WAIVER OF STATE IMMUNITY.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.— 

16 (i) WAIVER.—A State’s receipt or use 

17 of Federal financial assistance for any pro18 gram or activity of a State shall constitute 

19 a waiver of sovereign immunity, under the 

20 11th Amendment to the Constitution or 

21 otherwise, to a suit brought by a covered 

22 individual in that program or activity 

23 under this section for a remedy authorized 

24 under paragraph (4). 


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1 (ii) DEFINITION.—In this subpara2 graph, the term ‘‘program or activity’’ has 

3 the meaning given the term in section 606 

4 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

5 2000d–4a). 

6 (B) EFFECTIVE DATE.—With respect to a 

7 particular program or activity, subparagraph 

8 (A) applies to conduct occurring on or after the 

9 day, after the date of enactment of this Act, on 

10 which a State first receives or uses Federal fi11 nancial assistance for that program or activity. 

12 (3) REMEDIES AGAINST STATE OFFICIALS.—An 

13 official of a State may be sued in the official capac14 ity of the official by a covered individual who has 

15 complied with the applicable procedures of sub16 section (c), for equitable relief that is authorized 

17 under this section. In such a suit the court may 

18 award to the prevailing party those costs authorized 

19 by section 722 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 

20 1988). 

21 (4) REMEDIES AGAINST THE UNITED STATES

22 AND THE STATES.—Notwithstanding any other pro23 vision of this Act, in an action or administrative pro24 ceeding against the United States or a State for a 

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1 edies at law and in equity, and interest) are avail2 able for the violation to the same extent as the rem3 edies are available for a violation of title VII of the 

4 Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.) 

5 by an employer described in subsection (a)(5)(A), 

6 except that— 

7 (A) punitive damages are not available; 

8 and 

9 (B) compensatory damages are available to 

10 the extent specified in section 1977A(b) of the 

11 Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1981a(b)). 

12 (h) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in 

13 this section shall invalidate or limit the rights and rem14 edies available to workers under the National Labor Rela15 tions Act (29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.). 

16 SEC. 303. PROHIBITION ON MANDATORY ARBITRATION AND 

17 PROTECTION OF CONCERTED LEGAL ACTION. 

18 (a) PROTECTION OF CONCERTED ACTIVITY.— 

19 (1) AGREEMENTS.—Section 8(e) of the Na20 tional Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(e)) is 

21 amended to read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(e) Notwithstanding chapter 1 of title 9, United 

23 States Code (commonly known as the ‘Federal Arbitration 

24 Act’), or any other provision of law, it shall be an unfair 

25 labor practice under subsection (a)(1) for any employer— 


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1 ‘‘(1) to enter into or attempt to enforce any 

2 agreement, express or implied, whereby prior to or 

3 after a dispute to which the agreement applies, an 

4 employee undertakes or promises not to pursue, 

5 bring, join, litigate, or support any kind of joint, 

6 class, or collective claim arising from or relating to 

7 the employment of such employee in any forum that, 

8 but for such agreement, is of competent jurisdiction; 

9 ‘‘(2) to coerce an employee into undertaking or 

10 promising not to pursue, bring, join, litigate, or sup11 port any kind of joint, class, or collective claim aris12 ing from or relating to the employment of such em13 ployee; or 

14 ‘‘(3) to retaliate or threaten to retaliate against 

15 an employee for refusing to undertake or promise 

16 not to pursue, bring, join, litigate, or support any 

17 kind of joint, class, or collective claim arising from 

18 or relating to the employment of such employee: 

19 Provided, That any agreement that violates this subsection 

20 or results from a violation of this subsection shall be to 

21 such extent unenforceable and void: Provided further, That 

22 this subsection shall not apply to any agreement embodied 

23 in or expressly permitted by a contract between an em24 ployer and a labor organization.’’. 


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1 (2) CERTAIN POSTDISPUTE ARBITRATION

2 AGREEMENTS.—Section 10(b) of the National Labor 

3 Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 160(b)) is amended by 

4 striking ‘‘discharge’’ and inserting ‘‘discharge, or 

5 unless the person aggrieved thereby is alleging a vio6 lation of section 8(e) whose charge involves a 

7 postdispute arbitration agreement that meets the re8 quirements under section 502(a)(2) of title 9, 

9 United States Code, in which event the six-month 

10 period shall be computed from the day the waiting 

11 period described in subparagraph (C) of such section 

12 ends’’. 

13 (b) ARBITRATION OF WORK DISPUTES.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Title 9, United States Code, 

15 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘CHAPTER 5—ARBITRATION OF WORK 

17 DISPUTES 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘501. Definitions. 

‘‘502. No Validity and enforceability. 

18 ‘‘§ 501. Definitions 

19 ‘‘In this chapter: 

20 ‘‘(1) COMMERCE; EMPLOYEE; EMPLOYER.—The 

21 terms ‘commerce’, ‘employee’, and ‘employer’ have 

22 the meanings given the terms in section 3 of the 

23 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203). 


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1 ‘‘(2) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘covered en2 tity’ means— 

3 ‘‘(A) an employer; or 

4 ‘‘(B) an individual or entity that is not 

5 acting as an employer and engages the services 

6 of a worker. 

7 ‘‘(3) PRESDISPUTE ARBITRATION AGREE8 MENT.—The term ‘predispute arbitration agreement’ 

9 has the meaning given the term in section 401. 

10 ‘‘(4) POSTDISPUTE ARBITRATION AGREE11 MENT.—The term ‘postdispute arbitration agree12 ment’ means any agreement to arbitrate a dispute 

13 that arose before the time of the making of the 

14 agreement. 

15 ‘‘(5) WORKER.—The term ‘worker’ means— 

16 ‘‘(A) an employee engaged in an activity 

17 affecting commerce; or 

18 ‘‘(B) an individual, engaged in an activity 

19 affecting commerce, who is engaged by a cov20 ered entity to perform services or work as an 

21 independent contractor (regardless of the label 

22 or classification assigned or used by the covered 

23 entity). 

24 ‘‘(6) WORK DISPUTE.—The term ‘work dis25 pute’— 


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1 ‘‘(A) means a dispute between one or more 

2 workers (or their authorized representatives) 

3 and a covered entity arising out of or related to 

4 the work relationship or prospective work rela5 tionship between the workers and the covered 

6 entity; and 

7 ‘‘(B) includes— 

8 ‘‘(i) a dispute regarding the terms of, 

9 payment for, advertising of, recruitment of, 

10 referring of, arranging for, or discipline or 

11 discharge in connection with work per12 formed in connection with such work rela13 tionship; 

14 ‘‘(ii) a dispute arising under any law 

15 referred to or described in section 62(e) of 

16 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, includ17 ing any part of such a law not explicitly 

18 referenced in such section that relates to 

19 protecting individuals on a basis that is 

20 protected under a law referred to or de21 scribed in such section; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) a dispute in which an individual 

23 or individuals seek certification— 

24 ‘‘(I) as a class under rule 23 of 

25 the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; 


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1 ‘‘(II) as a collective action under 

2 section 16(b) of the Fair Labor 

3 Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

4 216(b)); or 

5 ‘‘(III) under a comparable rule or 

6 provision of State law. 

7 ‘‘§ 502. No validity or enforceability 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro9 vision of this title— 

10 ‘‘(1) no predispute arbitration agreement shall 

11 be valid or enforceable if it requires arbitration of a 

12 work dispute; 

13 ‘‘(2) no postdispute arbitration agreement that 

14 requires arbitration of a work dispute shall be valid 

15 or enforceable unless— 

16 ‘‘(A) the agreement was not required by 

17 the covered entity, obtained by coercion or 

18 threat of adverse action, or made a condition of 

19 employment, work, or any employment-related 

20 or work-related privilege or benefit; 

21 ‘‘(B) each worker entering into the agree22 ment was informed in writing using sufficiently 

23 plain language likely to be understood by the 

24 average worker of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the right of the worker under 

2 paragraph (3) to refuse to enter the agree3 ment without retaliation; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) as applicable, the protections 

5 under section 8(a)(6) of the National 

6 Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 

7 158(a)(6)); 

8 ‘‘(C) each worker entering into the agree9 ment entered the agreement after a waiting pe10 riod of not fewer than 45 days, beginning on 

11 the date on which the employee was provided 

12 both the final text of the agreement and the 

13 disclosures required under subparagraph (B); 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(D) each worker entering into the agree16 ment affirmatively consented to the agreement 

17 in writing; and 

18 ‘‘(3) no covered entity may retaliate or threaten 

19 to retaliate against a worker for refusing to enter 

20 into an agreement that provides for arbitration of a 

21 work dispute. 

22 ‘‘(b) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—The statute of lim23 itations for bringing an action that arises from or forms 

24 the basis for the applicable work dispute shall be tolled 


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1 during the waiting period described in subsection 

2 (a)(2)(C). 

3 ‘‘(c) CIVIL ACTION.—Any person who is injured by 

4 reason of a violation of subsection (a)(3) may bring a civil 

5 action in the appropriate district court of the United 

6 States against the covered entity within 2 years of the vio7 lation, or within 3 years if such violation is willful. Relief 

8 granted in such an action shall include a reasonable attor9 ney’s fee, other reasonable costs associated with maintain10 ing the action, and any appropriate relief authorized by 

11 section 706(g) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 

12 2000e–5(g)) or by section 1977A(b) of the Revised Stat13 utes (42 U.S.C. 1981a(b)). 

14 ‘‘(d) APPLICABILITY.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—This chapter applies to cov16 ered entities and workers to the fullest extent per17 mitted by the Constitution of the United States, in18 cluding the work of persons engaged in domestic 

19 service in households, as described in section 2(a) of 

20 the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

21 202(a)). An issue as to whether this chapter applies 

22 to an arbitration agreement shall be determined 

23 under Federal law. The applicability of this chapter 

24 to an agreement to arbitrate and the validity and en25 forceability of an agreement to which this chapter 


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1 applies shall be determined by a court, rather than 

2 an arbitrator, regardless of whether any contractual 

3 provision purports to delegate such determinations 

4 to the arbitrator and irrespective of whether the 

5 party resisting arbitration challenges the arbitration 

6 agreement specifically or in conjunction with other 

7 terms of the contract containing such agreement. 

8 ‘‘(2) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.— 

9 Nothing in this chapter shall apply to any arbitra10 tion provision in a contract between a covered entity 

11 and a labor organization, except that no such arbi12 tration provision shall have the effect of waiving the 

13 right of a worker to seek judicial enforcement of a 

14 right arising under a provision of the Constitution of 

15 the United States, the constitution of a State, or a 

16 Federal or State statute, or public policy arising 

17 therefrom.’’. 

18 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND19 MENTS.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Title 9 of the United 

21 States Code is amended— 

22 (i) in section 1, by striking ‘‘of sea23 men,’’ and all that follows through ‘‘inter24 state commerce’’; 


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1 (ii) in section 2, by inserting ‘‘or 5’’ 

2 before the period at the end; 

3 (iii) in section 208, in the second sen4 tence, by inserting ‘‘or 5’’ before the period 

5 at the end; and 

6 (iv) in section 307, in the second sen7 tence, by inserting ‘‘or 5’’ before the period 

8 at the end. 

9 (B) TABLE OF CHAPTERS.—The table of 

10 chapters for title 9, United States Code, is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘5. Arbitration of work disputes ................................................. 501.’’. 

12 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section, and the amend13 ments made by this section, shall take effect on the date 

14 of enactment of this Act and shall apply with respect to 

15 any dispute or claim that arises or accrues on or after 

16 such date, including any dispute or claim to which an 

17 agreement predating such date applies. 

18 SEC. 304. FEDERAL CONTRACTOR COMPLIANCE WITH 

19 LABOR AND CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS. 

20 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) COVERED CONTRACT.—The term ‘‘covered 

22 contract’’ means a Federal contract for the procure23 ment of property or services, including construction, 

24 valued in excess of $500,000. 


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1 (2) COVERED SUBCONTRACT.—The term ‘‘cov2 ered subcontract’’— 

3 (A) means a subcontract for property or 

4 services under a Federal contract that is valued 

5 in excess of $500,000; and 

6 (B) does not include a subcontract for the 

7 procurement of commercially available off-the8 shelf items. 

9 (3) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

10 agency’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

11 133 of title 41, United States Code. 

12 (b) REQUIRED PRE-CONTRACT AWARD ACTIONS.— 

13 (1) DISCLOSURES.—The head of an executive 

14 agency shall ensure that the solicitation for a cov15 ered contract requires the offeror— 

16 (A) to represent, to the best of the 

17 offeror’s knowledge and belief, whether there 

18 has been any administrative merits determina19 tion, arbitral award or decision, or civil judg20 ment, as defined in guidance issued by the Sec21 retary of Labor, rendered against the offeror in 

22 the preceding 3 years for violations of— 

23 (i) the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

24 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.); 


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1 (ii) the Occupational Safety and 

2 Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 651 et 

3 seq.); 

4 (iii) the Migrant and Seasonal Agri5 cultural Worker Protection Act (29 U.S.C. 

6 1801 et seq.); 

7 (iv) the National Labor Relations Act 

8 (29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.); 

9 (v) subchapter IV of chapter 31 of 

10 title 40, United States Code (commonly 

11 known as the ‘‘Davis-Bacon Act’’); 

12 (vi) chapter 67 of title 41, United 

13 States Code (commonly known as the 

14 ‘‘Service Contract Act’’); 

15 (vii) Executive Order 11246 (42 

16 U.S.C. 2000e note; relating to equal em17 ployment opportunity); 

18 (viii) section 503 or 505 of the Reha19 bilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 793); 

20 (ix) section 4212 of title 38, United 

21 States Code; 

22 (x) the Family and Medical Leave Act 

23 of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.); 

24 (xi) title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 

25 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.); 


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•S 4902 IS

1 (xii) the Pregnant Workers Fairness 

2 Act (42 U.S.C. 2000gg et seq.); 

3 (xiii) title I and section 503 (for viola4 tions with respect to that title) of the 

5 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 

6 (42 U.S.C. 12111 et seq.; 12203); 

7 (xiv) the Age Discrimination in Em8 ployment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et 

9 seq.); 

10 (xv) title II of the Genetic Informa11 tion Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (42 

12 U.S.C. 2000ff et seq.); 

13 (xvi) as applicable, Executive Order 

14 13658 (79 Fed. Reg. 9851; relating to es15 tablishing a minimum wage for contrac16 tors) or Executive Order 14026 (86 Fed. 

17 Reg. 22835; relating to increasing the min18 imum wage for Federal contractors); or 

19 (xvii) equivalent State laws, as defined 

20 in guidance issued by the Secretary of 

21 Labor; 

22 (B) to require each subcontractor for a 

23 covered subcontract— 

24 (i) to represent to the offeror, and the 

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1 sor designated under subsection (d), to the 

2 best of the subcontractor’s knowledge and 

3 belief, whether there has been any adminis4 trative merits determination, arbitral 

5 award or decision, or civil judgment, as de6 fined in guidance issued by the Secretary 

7 of Labor, rendered against the subcon8 tractor in the preceding 3 years for viola9 tions of any of the labor or civil rights laws 

10 listed under subparagraph (A); and 

11 (ii) to update such information every 

12 6 months for the duration of the sub13 contract; and 

14 (C) to consider the advice rendered by the 

15 executive agency’s Labor Compliance Advisor 

16 designated under subsection (d), or information 

17 submitted by a subcontractor pursuant to sub18 paragraph (B), in determining whether the sub19 contractor is a responsible source with a satis20 factory record of integrity and business ethics— 

21 (i) prior to awarding the subcontract; 

22 or 

23 (ii) in the case of a subcontract that 

24 is awarded or will become effective within 

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1 ed, not later than 30 days after awarding 

2 the subcontract. 

3 (2) PRE-AWARD CORRECTIVE MEASURES.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—A contracting officer, 

5 prior to awarding a covered contract, shall, as 

6 part of the responsibility determination, provide 

7 an offeror who makes a disclosure pursuant to 

8 paragraph (1) an opportunity to report any 

9 steps taken to correct the violations of or im10 prove compliance with the labor or civil rights 

11 laws listed in subparagraph (A) of such para12 graph, including any agreements entered into 

13 with an enforcement agency. 

14 (B) CONSULTATION.—The executive agen15 cy’s Labor Compliance Advisor designated 

16 under subsection (d), in consultation with rel17 evant enforcement agencies, shall advise the 

18 contracting officer whether agreements are in 

19 place or are otherwise needed to address appro20 priate remedial measures, compliance assist21 ance, steps to resolve issues to avoid further 

22 violations, or other related matters concerning 

23 the offeror. 

24 (C) RESPONSIBILITY DETERMINATION.— 

25 The contracting officer, in consultation with the 


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1 executive agency’s Labor Compliance Advisor 

2 designated under subsection (d), shall consider 

3 information provided by the offeror under this 

4 subsection in determining whether the offeror is 

5 a responsible source with a satisfactory record 

6 of integrity and business ethics. The determina7 tion shall be based on the guidance reissued 

8 under subsection (e)(2)(A) and the final rule 

9 reissued under subsection (e)(1). 

10 (3) REFERRAL OF INFORMATION TO SUSPEN11 SION AND DEBARMENT OFFICIALS.—As appropriate, 

12 contracting officers, in consultation with their execu13 tive agency’s Labor Compliance Advisor, shall refer 

14 matters related to information provided under sub15 paragraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) to the ex16 ecutive agency’s suspension and debarment official 

17 in accordance with agency procedures. 

18 (c) POST-AWARD CONTRACT ACTIONS.— 

19 (1) INFORMATION UPDATES.—The contracting 

20 officer for a covered contract shall require that the 

21 contractor update the information provided under 

22 subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (b)(1) 

23 every 6 months. 

24 (2) CORRECTIVE ACTIONS.— 


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1 (A) PRIME CONTRACT.—The contracting 

2 officer, in consultation with the Labor Compli3 ance Advisor designated pursuant to subsection 

4 (d), shall determine whether any information 

5 provided under paragraph (1) warrants correc6 tive action. Such action may include— 

7 (i) an agreement requiring appro8 priate remedial measures; 

9 (ii) compliance assistance; 

10 (iii) resolving issues to avoid further 

11 violations; 

12 (iv) the decision not to exercise an op13 tion on a contract or to terminate the con14 tract; or 

15 (v) referral to the agency suspending 

16 and debarring official. 

17 (B) SUBCONTRACTS.—The prime con18 tractor for a covered contract, in consultation 

19 with the Labor Compliance Advisor, shall deter20 mine whether any information provided under 

21 subsection (b)(1)(B) warrants corrective action, 

22 including remedial measures, compliance assist23 ance, and resolving issues to avoid further viola24 tions. 


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1 (C) DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.—The Sec2 retary of Labor shall, as appropriate, inform 

3 executive agencies of its investigations of con4 tractors and subcontractors on covered con5 tracts for purposes of determining the appro6 priateness of actions described under subpara7 graphs (A) and (B). 

8 (d) LABOR COMPLIANCE ADVISORS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each executive agency shall 

10 designate a senior official to act as the agency’s 

11 Labor Compliance Advisor. 

12 (2) DUTIES.—The Labor Compliance Advisor 

13 shall— 

14 (A) meet quarterly with the Deputy Sec15 retary, Deputy Administrator, or equivalent ex16 ecutive agency official with regard to matters 

17 covered under this section; 

18 (B) work with the acquisition workforce, 

19 agency officials, and agency contractors to pro20 mote greater awareness and understanding of 

21 the requirements of the labor and civil rights 

22 laws listed in subsection (b)(1)(A), including 

23 record keeping, reporting, and notice require24 ments, as well as best practices for obtaining 

25 compliance with these requirements; 


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1 (C) coordinate assistance for executive 

2 agency contractors seeking help in addressing 

3 and preventing violations of such laws; 

4 (D) in consultation with the Secretary of 

5 Labor or other relevant enforcement agencies, 

6 and pursuant to subsection (b)(2) as necessary, 

7 provide assistance to contracting officers re8 garding appropriate actions to be taken in re9 sponse to violations of the labor or civil rights 

10 laws listed in subsection (b)(1)(A) identified 

11 prior to or after contracts are awarded, and ad12 dress complaints in a timely manner, by— 

13 (i) providing assistance to contracting 

14 officers and other executive agency officials 

15 in reviewing the information provided 

16 under paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection 

17 (b) and subsection (c)(1), or other infor18 mation indicating such a violation, in order 

19 to assess the serious, repeated, willful, or 

20 pervasive nature of any such violation and 

21 evaluate steps contractors have taken to 

22 correct such violations or improve compli23 ance with relevant requirements; 

24 (ii) helping agency officials determine 

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1 tions of the labor or civil rights laws listed 

2 in subsection (b)(1)(A) or other informa3 tion indicating such a violation (particu4 larly a serious, repeated, willful, or perva5 sive violation), including an agreement re6 quiring appropriate remedial measures, a 

7 decision not to award a contract or exer8 cise an option on a contract, contract ter9 mination, or a referral to the executive 

10 agency suspension and debarment official; 

11 (iii) providing assistance to appro12 priate executive agency officials in receiv13 ing and responding to, or making referrals 

14 of, complaints alleging violations by agency 

15 contractors and subcontractors of the labor 

16 or civil rights laws listed in subsection 

17 (b)(1)(A); and 

18 (iv) supporting contracting officers, 

19 suspension and debarment officials, and 

20 other agency officials in the coordination of 

21 actions taken pursuant to this subsection 

22 to ensure agency-wide consistency, to the 

23 extent practicable; 


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1 (E) as appropriate, send information to 

2 agency suspension and debarment officials in 

3 accordance with agency procedures; 

4 (F) consult with the agency’s Chief Acqui5 sition Officer and Senior Procurement Execu6 tive, and the Department of Labor and other 

7 relevant enforcement agencies as necessary, in 

8 the development of regulations, policies, and 

9 guidance addressing compliance by contractors 

10 and subcontractors with the labor and civil 

11 rights laws listed in subsection (b)(1)(A); 

12 (G) make recommendations to the agency 

13 to strengthen agency management of contractor 

14 compliance with such labor and civil rights 

15 laws; 

16 (H) publicly report, on an annual basis, a 

17 summary of agency actions taken to promote 

18 greater compliance with such laws, including 

19 the agency’s response under this section to seri20 ous, repeated, willful, or pervasive violations of 

21 such laws; and 

22 (I) participate in the interagency meetings 

23 regularly convened by the Secretary of Labor 

24 under subsection (e)(2)(B)(iii). 


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1 (e) MEASURES TO ENSURE GOVERNMENTWIDE CON2 SISTENCY.— 

3 (1) FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULATION.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding the 

5 Joint Resolution disapproving the rule sub6 mitted by the Department of Defense, the Gen7 eral Services Administration, and the National 

8 Aeronautics and Space Administration relating 

9 to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (Public 

10 Law 115–11; 131 Stat. 75) and section 553 of 

11 title 5, United States Code, not later than 1 

12 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

13 Secretary of Defense, the Administrator of the 

14 General Services Administration, and the Ad15 ministrator of the National Aeronautics and 

16 Space Administration shall reissue the final rule 

17 entitled ‘‘Federal Acquisition Regulation; Fair 

18 Pay and Safe Workplaces’’ (81 Fed. Reg. 

19 58562 (Aug. 25, 2016)), subject to subpara20 graph (B). 

21 (B) UPDATED DATES.—The agencies de22 scribed in subparagraph (A) may, in reissuing 

23 the final rule under such subparagraph— 

24 (i) update any date provided in such 

25 final rule as reasonable and necessary; and 


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1 (ii) revise any provision in such rule 

2 for consistency with the requirements of 

3 this section. 

4 (2) DEPARTMENT OF LABOR.— 

5 (A) GUIDANCE.—Not later than 1 year 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec7 retary of Labor shall reissue the guidance enti8 tled ‘‘Guidance for Executive Order 13673, 

9 ‘Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces’ ’’ (81 Fed. 

10 Reg. 58654 (Aug. 25, 2016)). In reissuing such 

11 guidance, the Secretary of Labor may— 

12 (i) update any date provided in such 

13 guidance as reasonable and necessary; and 

14 (ii) revise any provision in such guid15 ance for consistency with the requirements 

16 of this section. 

17 (B) ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES.—The Sec18 retary of Labor shall— 

19 (i) develop a process— 

20 (I) for the Labor Compliance Ad21 visors designated pursuant to sub22 section (d) to consult with the Sec23 retary of Labor in carrying out the re24 sponsibilities of such Labor CompliVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:32 Sep 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00141 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4902.IS S4902

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1 ance Advisors under subsection 

2 (d)(2)(D); 

3 (II) by which contracting officers 

4 and Labor Compliance Advisors may 

5 give appropriate consideration to de6 terminations and agreements made by 

7 the Secretary of Labor and the heads 

8 of other executive agencies; and 

9 (III) by which contractors may 

10 enter into agreements with the Sec11 retary of Labor, or the head of an12 other executive agency, prior to being 

13 considered for a contract; 

14 (ii) review data collection require15 ments and processes, and work with the 

16 Director of the Office of Management and 

17 Budget, the Administrator of General 

18 Services, and other agency heads to im19 prove such requirements and processes, as 

20 necessary, to reduce the burden on con21 tractors and increase the amount of infor22 mation available to executive agencies; 

23 (iii) regularly convene interagency 

24 meetings of Labor Compliance Advisors to 

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1 proving compliance with the labor and civil 

2 rights laws listed in subsection (b)(1)(A); 

3 and 

4 (iv) designate an appropriate contact 

5 for executive agencies seeking to consult 

6 with the Secretary of Labor with respect to 

7 the requirements and activities under this 

8 section. 

9 (3) OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET.— 

10 The Director of the Office of Management and 

11 Budget shall— 

12 (A) work with the Administrator of Gen13 eral Services to include in the Federal Awardee 

14 Performance and Integrity Information System 

15 the information provided by contractors pursu16 ant to subsections (b)(1)(A) and (c)(1) and 

17 data on the resolution of any issues related to 

18 such information; and 

19 (B) designate an appropriate contact for 

20 agencies seeking to consult with the Office of 

21 Management and Budget on matters arising 

22 under this section. 

23 (4) GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of 

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1 evant executive agencies, shall establish a single 

2 internet website for Federal contractors to use 

3 for all Federal contract reporting requirements 

4 under this section, as well as any other Federal 

5 contract reporting requirements to the extent 

6 practicable. 

7 (B) AGENCY COOPERATION.—The heads of 

8 executive agencies with covered contracts shall 

9 provide the Administrator of General Services 

10 with the data necessary to maintain the inter11 net website established under subparagraph 

12 (A). 

13 (5) MINIMIZING COMPLIANCE BURDEN.—After 

14 reissuing the guidance under paragraph (2)(A) or 

15 the final rule under paragraph (1), the Secretary of 

16 Labor or the Secretary of Defense, the Adminis17 trator of the General Services Administration, and 

18 the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and 

19 Space Administration may, respectively, amend such 

20 guidance or final rule consistent with the require21 ments under chapter 5 of title 5, United States 

22 Code. 

23 (f) IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS.—Not later than 9 

24 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Fed25 eral Acquisition Regulatory Council shall amend the FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:32 Sep 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00144 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4902.IS S4902

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1 eral Acquisition Regulation to carry out the provisions of 

2 this section. 

3 (g) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec4 tion shall be construed as— 

5 (1) impairing or otherwise affecting the author6 ity granted by law to an executive agency or the 

7 head thereof; or 

8 (2) impairing or otherwise affecting the func9 tions of the Director of the Office of Management 

10 and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or 

11 legislative proposals. 

12 TITLE IV—NATIONWIDE GRANTS 

13 TO PREVENT AND RESPOND 

14 TO WORKPLACE DISCRIMINA15 TION, INCLUDING HARASS16 MENT 

17 SEC. 401. DEFINITIONS. 

18 In this title: 

19 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

20 means the Equal Employment Opportunity Commis21 sion. 

22 (2) COVERED ESTABLISHMENT.—The term 

23 ‘‘covered establishment’’ has the meaning given the 

24 term in section 302(a)(2). 


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1 (3) EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION.—The term 

2 ‘‘employment discrimination’’ means discrimination 

3 that is in violation of applicable Federal, State, or 

4 local employment law, including each of the fol5 lowing: 

6 (A) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 

7 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.). 

8 (B) The Government Employee Rights Act 

9 of 1991 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–16a et seq.). 

10 (C) The Congressional Accountability Act 

11 of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.). 

12 (D) Subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 3, 

13 United States Code. 

14 (E) The Age Discrimination in Employ15 ment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et seq.). 

16 (F) Title I and section 503 (for violations 

17 with respect to that title) of the Americans with 

18 Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12111 et 

19 seq.; 12203). 

20 (G) Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabili21 tation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791, 794a). 

22 (H) Section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Stand23 ards Act of 1938 (commonly known as the 

24 ‘‘Equal Pay Act of 1963’’) (29 U.S.C. 206(d)). 


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1 (I) Title II of the Genetic Information 

2 Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 

3 2000ff et seq.). 

4 (J) Section 4311 of title 38, United States 

5 Code. 

6 (K) The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act 

7 (42 U.S.C. 2000gg et seq.). 

8 (L) Other Federal, State, or local employ9 ment law. 

10 (4) EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘employer’’ has the 

11 meaning given the term in section 302(a)(5). 

12 (5) WORKER.—The term ‘‘worker’’ has the 

13 meaning given the term in section 302(a)(8). 

14 Subtitle A—National Grants for 

15 Preventing and Addressing Em16 ployment Discrimination, In17 cluding Harassment 

18 SEC. 411. DEFINITIONS. 

19 In this subtitle: 

20 (1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

21 the Director of the Women’s Bureau of the Depart22 ment of Labor. 

23 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti24 ty’’ means any of the following: 


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1 (A) A nonprofit organization, including a 

2 community-based organization, nonprofit legal 

3 aid organization, or labor organization, that 

4 provides services and support to workers, in5 cluding by assisting workers in filing charges of 

6 employment discrimination. 

7 (B) An institution of higher education, as 

8 defined in section 101 of the Higher Education 

9 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

10 SEC. 412. GRANTS. 

11 (a) GRANTS.—The Director, in consultation with the 

12 Commission, shall award grants under this section, on a 

13 competitive basis, to eligible entities to assist such entities 

14 in carrying out a program for preventing and addressing 

15 employment discrimination, including harassment, 

16 through activities authorized under subsection (b). 

17 (b) USE OF FUNDS.— 

18 (1) PERMISSIBLE ACTIVITIES.—A grant award19 ed under this section shall be used for activities to 

20 prevent and address employment discrimination, in21 cluding harassment, which may include— 

22 (A) educating workers about their rights 

23 related to employment discrimination, including 

24 harassment; 


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1 (B) educating employers and covered es2 tablishments about their obligations to prevent 

3 and address employment discrimination, includ4 ing harassment; 

5 (C) providing assistance to workers in 

6 bringing complaints (including filing charges) of 

7 employment discrimination, including harass8 ment; 

9 (D) establishing networks for education, 

10 communication, and participation in the work11 place and community; 

12 (E) monitoring compliance of employers 

13 and covered establishments with Federal, State, 

14 and local civil rights, labor, and employment 

15 laws; 

16 (F) recruiting and hiring of staff and vol17 unteers; and 

18 (G) any other activity the Director, in con19 sultation with the Commission, may reasonably 

20 prescribe for the purpose of preventing and ad21 dressing employment discrimination, including 

22 harassment. 

23 (2) PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES.—Notwithstanding 

24 paragraph (1), an eligible entity receiving a grant 

25 under this section may not use the grant funds for 


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1 any purpose reasonably prohibited by the Director, 

2 in consultation with the Commission, through notice 

3 and comment rulemaking. 

4 (c) TERM OF GRANTS.—Each grant awarded under 

5 this section shall be available for expenditure for a period 

6 not to exceed 3 years. 

7 (d) APPLICATIONS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity seeking a 

9 grant under this section shall submit an application 

10 for such grant to the Director in accordance with 

11 this subsection. 

12 (2) PARTNERSHIPS.—Multiple eligible entities 

13 may submit a joint application under this subsection 

14 that designates a single entity as the lead entity for 

15 the purposes of receiving and disbursing funds re16 ceived through a grant under this section. 

17 (3) CONTENTS.—An application under this sub18 section shall include— 

19 (A) a description of a plan for the program 

20 that the eligible entity proposes to carry out 

21 with a grant under this section, including a 

22 long-term strategy and detailed implementation 

23 plan; 

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1 tion, including harassment, in the population 

2 served by the eligible entity; 

3 (C) information on any industry or geo4 graphic area targeted by the plan for such pro5 gram; 

6 (D) information on the type of outreach 

7 and relationship building that will be conducted 

8 under such program; 

9 (E) information on the training and edu10 cation that will be provided to workers, employ11 ers, and covered establishments under such pro12 gram; and 

13 (F) the method by which the eligible entity 

14 will measure the results of such program. 

15 (e) SELECTION.— 

16 (1) COMPETITIVE BASIS.—In accordance with 

17 this section, the Director, in consultation with the 

18 Commission, shall, on a competitive basis, select 

19 grant recipients from among eligible entities that 

20 have submitted an application meeting the require21 ments under subsection (d). 

22 (2) PRIORITY.—The Director, in consultation 

23 with the Commission, in selecting grant recipients 

24 under paragraph (1), shall give priority to eligible 

25 entities that— 


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1 (A) serve workers in any industry or geo2 graphic area that is most highly at risk for em3 ployment discrimination, including harassment, 

4 as identified by the Director, in consultation 

5 with the Commission; and 

6 (B) demonstrate past and ongoing work to 

7 prevent employment discrimination, including 

8 harassment. 

9 (f) PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each grant recipient under 

11 this section shall develop procedures for reporting, 

12 monitoring, measuring, and evaluating the activities 

13 of each program or activity funded under this sec14 tion. 

15 (2) GUIDELINES.—The procedures required 

16 under paragraph (1) shall be in accordance with 

17 guidelines established by the Director, in consulta18 tion with the Commission. 

19 SEC. 413. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Direc21 tor such sums as may be necessary to carry out this sub22 title. 


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1 Subtitle B—Grants for Legal Assist2 ance for Low-Income Workers 

3 SEC. 421. DEFINITIONS. 

4 In this subtitle: 

5 (1) COVERED CLIENT.—The term ‘‘covered cli6 ent’’ means an individual who— 

7 (A) is an eligible client; and 

8 (B) faces legal issues related to harass9 ment or other employment discrimination. 

10 (2) ELIGIBLE CLIENT.—The term ‘‘eligible cli11 ent’’ has the meaning given the term in section 1002 

12 of the Legal Services Corporation Act (42 U.S.C. 

13 2996a) and the regulations of the Legal Services 

14 Corporation. 

15 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti16 ty’’ means— 

17 (A) a nonprofit organization; and 

18 (B) an individual who is licensed to prac19 tice law. 

20 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

21 the Secretary of Labor. 

22 SEC. 422. GRANTS FOR CIVIL LEGAL NEEDS RELATED TO 

23 EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION. 

24 (a) GRANTS AUTHORIZED.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 

2 to provide financial assistance to eligible entities to 

3 enable those eligible entities to provide for the civil 

4 legal needs of covered clients that are related to em5 ployment discrimination, and to provide for those cli6 ents such other services as are necessary to carry 

7 out the purposes of this subtitle, including any of 

8 the following activities: 

9 (A) Providing covered clients advice, legal 

10 services, or representation. 

11 (B) Assisting covered clients in utilizing 

12 the employment discrimination complaint proc13 ess of the Commission or any other Federal, 

14 State, or local agency enforcing an employment 

15 discrimination law. 

16 (C) Assisting covered clients in utilizing a 

17 private employment discrimination complaint 

18 process. 

19 (D) Conducting outreach activities to pub20 licize the services offered under this section. 

21 (2) CITIZENSHIP STATUS.—An eligible entity 

22 receiving a grant under this section shall provide 

23 services to a covered client without regard to the 

24 citizenship status or authorization to work of the 

25 covered client. 


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1 (b) APPLICATION.—In order to be eligible to receive 

2 a grant under this section, an eligible entity shall submit 

3 an application to the Secretary at such time and in such 

4 manner as the Secretary may require. Such application 

5 shall include— 

6 (1) a description of the services that the eligible 

7 entity proposes to provide, implement, improve, or 

8 expand; 

9 (2) a description of the covered clients the eligi10 ble entity intends to serve; 

11 (3) evidence of the eligible entity’s capacity to 

12 provide services to covered clients, such as the eligi13 ble entity’s record of success representing eligible cli14 ents in legal matters relating to employment dis15 crimination, or the eligible entity’s prior experience 

16 serving clients who cannot afford legal counsel; 

17 (4) an explanation of how the services the eligi18 ble entity intends to provide will assist covered cli19 ents in addressing legal issues related to employment 

20 discrimination; and 

21 (5) any other information that the Secretary 

22 may require. 

23 (c) AWARD BASIS.—The Secretary shall, in consulta24 tion with the Legal Services Corporation, award and over25 see grants under this section pursuant to such procedures 


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1 and criteria as the Secretary may require. Such proce2 dures and criteria shall include consideration of— 

3 (1) whether the eligible entity has demonstrated 

4 an understanding of the legal needs of covered cli5 ents; 

6 (2) the eligible entity’s capacity to provide serv7 ices to covered clients, which may be demonstrated 

8 through evidence described in subsection (b)(3); 

9 (3) the eligible entity’s knowledge of applicable 

10 Federal, State, and local employment discrimination 

11 laws; 

12 (4) the eligible entity’s capacity and ability to 

13 access other resources; 

14 (5) the eligible entity’s ability to ensure con15 tinuity of service to covered clients with pending 

16 legal issues; and 

17 (6) other factors that the Secretary determines 

18 are relevant. 

19 (d) EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION.—To the extent prac20 ticable, in awarding grants under this section, the Sec21 retary, in consultation with the Legal Services Corpora22 tion, shall ensure that the grants are made so as to provide 

23 the most economical and effective delivery of services de24 scribed in subsection (a)(1) to covered clients in both 


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1 urban and rural areas, with consideration of the geo2 graphic distribution of persons in poverty. 

3 (e) DURATION OF THE GRANT.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—A grant under this section 

5 shall be for a term of not less than 1 year and not 

6 more than 5 years. 

7 (2) RENEWAL.—The Secretary may renew a 

8 grant awarded under this section for a period of not 

9 more than 2 additional years if the eligible entity 

10 demonstrates that the eligible entity is effectively 

11 using funds and that the renewal of the grant will 

12 allow the eligible entity to scale up the provision of 

13 services, replicate the program involved, or provide 

14 continuity of service to covered clients. 

15 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

16 of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall provide 

17 to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen18 sions of the Senate and the Committee on Education and 

19 the Workforce of the House of Representatives a report 

20 on the implementation of the grant program under this 

21 section, including— 

22 (1) a description of the services provided using 

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1 dressed by eligible entities and the number of cov2 ered clients served; and 

3 (2) an assessment of the number of individuals 

4 facing one or more legal issues related to employ5 ment discrimination who cannot afford adequate 

6 legal counsel, and the largest areas of unmet need 

7 for that counsel. 

8 SEC. 423. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

9 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

10 this subtitle such sums as may be necessary. 

11 Subtitle C—Grants for a System of 

12 State Advocacy 

13 SEC. 431. PURPOSE. 

14 The purpose of this subtitle is to provide allotments 

15 to support a system of advocacy (referred to in this sub16 title as a ‘‘system’’) in each State to protect the legal and 

17 human rights of workers in accordance with applicable 

18 Federal, State, and local employment discrimination law. 

19 SEC. 432. DEFINITIONS. 

20 In this subtitle: 

21 (1) RECORD.—The term ‘‘record’’ includes— 

22 (A) a report prepared by an employer, cov23 ered establishment, or staff person charged with 

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1 crimination and the steps taken to investigate 

2 those incidents; 

3 (B) statistical information related to em4 ployment decisions and the race, sex (including 

5 sexual orientation and gender identity), religion, 

6 national origin, age, disability, genetic informa7 tion, or other protected characteristics of work8 ers; 

9 (C) records described in section 11(c) of 

10 the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 

11 211(c)); and 

12 (D) any such similar record, as may be 

13 necessary to carry out the purposes of this sub14 title. 

15 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

16 the Secretary of Labor. 

17 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’, except as oth18 erwise provided, includes, in addition to each of the 

19 several States of the United States, the District of 

20 Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the 

21 United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American 

22 Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 

23 Mariana Islands. 

24 SEC. 433. ALLOTMENTS AND PAYMENTS. 

25 (a) ALLOTMENTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—To assist States in carrying 

2 out a system meeting the requirements under section 

3 434, including the activities for which the system 

4 has authority as described in that section, the Sec5 retary shall make allotments, on a fiscal year basis, 

6 to States from the amounts appropriated under sec7 tion 436 and not reserved under paragraph (5). 

8 (2) MINIMUM ALLOTMENTS.—In any case in 

9 which— 

10 (A) the total amount appropriated under 

11 section 436 for a fiscal year is not less than 

12 $20,000,000, the allotment under paragraph 

13 (1) for such fiscal year— 

14 (i) to each of American Samoa, 

15 Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, 

16 and the Commonwealth of the Northern 

17 Mariana Islands may not be less than 

18 $100,000; and 

19 (ii) to any State not described in 

20 clause (i) may not be less than $200,000; 

21 and 

22 (B) the total amount appropriated under 

23 section 436 for a fiscal year is less than 

24 $20,000,000, the allotment under paragraph 

25 (1) for such fiscal year— 


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1 (i) to each of American Samoa, 

2 Guam, the United States Virgin Islands, 

3 and the Commonwealth of the Northern 

4 Mariana Islands may not be less than 

5 $50,000; and 

6 (ii) to any State not described in 

7 clause (i) may not be less than $150,000. 

8 (3) REDUCTION OF ALLOTMENT.—Notwith9 standing paragraphs (1) and (2), if the aggregate of 

10 the amounts to be allotted to the States pursuant to 

11 such paragraphs for any fiscal year exceeds the total 

12 amount appropriated for such allotments under sec13 tion 436 for such fiscal year, the amount to be allot14 ted to each State for such fiscal year shall be pro15 portionately reduced. 

16 (4) INCREASE IN ALLOTMENTS.—If the sum ap17 propriated under section 436 and not reserved under 

18 paragraph (5) for any fiscal year exceeds the aggre19 gate of the minimum allotments for all States under 

20 this subsection for that fiscal year, such excess 

21 amount shall be allotted among the States, including 

22 American Samoa, Guam, the United States Virgin 

23 Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern 

24 Mariana Islands, so as to increase proportionately 

25 the minimum allotment for each State. 


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1 (5) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE; AMERICAN INDIAN

2 CONSORTIUMS.—In any case in which the total 

3 amount appropriated under section 436 for a fiscal 

4 year is more than $24,500,000, the Secretary 

5 shall— 

6 (A) use not more than 2 percent of the 

7 amount appropriated to provide technical assist8 ance to systems that meet the requirements 

9 under section 434 with respect to activities car10 ried out under this subtitle (consistent with re11 quests by such systems for such assistance for 

12 the year); and 

13 (B) provide a grant in accordance with sec14 tion 434(d) and in an amount described in 

15 paragraph (2)(A)(i), to an American Indian 

16 consortium to provide protection and advocacy 

17 services. 

18 (6) REALLOTMENTS.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary deter20 mines that an amount of an allotment to a 

21 State for a use in a fiscal year (or the following 

22 fiscal year, as provided in subsection (c)) will 

23 not be required by the State during the fiscal 

24 year (or during such following fiscal year) for 

25 the purpose for which the allotment was made, 


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1 the Secretary shall reallot the amount as de2 scribed in this paragraph. 

3 (B) TIMING.—The Secretary may make 

4 such a reallotment from time to time, on such 

5 date as the Secretary may fix, but not earlier 

6 than 30 days after the Secretary has published 

7 notice of the intention of the Secretary to make 

8 the reallotment in the Federal Register. 

9 (C) AMOUNTS.—The Secretary shall reallot 

10 the amount to other States with respect to 

11 which the Secretary has not made the deter12 mination described in subparagraph (A). The 

13 Secretary shall reallot that amount in propor14 tion to the original allotments of the other 

15 States for such fiscal year, but shall reduce 

16 such proportionate amount for any of the other 

17 States by the sum (if any) of the proportionate 

18 amount that exceeds the total that the Sec19 retary estimates the State needs and will be 

20 able to use in a fiscal year (or the following fis21 cal year, as provided in subsection (c)) and 

22 shall proportionately reallot such sum to the re23 maining States. 

24 (D) TREATMENT.—Any amount reallotted 

25 to a State under this subsection for a fiscal 


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1 year shall be deemed to be a part of the allot2 ment of the State under paragraph (1) for such 

3 fiscal year. 

4 (b) PAYMENT TO SYSTEMS.—The Secretary shall pay 

5 directly to each State that has a system in the State that 

6 complies with the provisions of this subtitle the amount 

7 of the allotment made for the State under this section, 

8 unless the system specifies otherwise, to be used in sup9 port of the system. 

10 (c) UNOBLIGATED FUNDS.—Any amount paid to a 

11 State under this subtitle for a fiscal year and remaining 

12 unobligated at the end of such year shall remain available 

13 to such State for the next fiscal year, for the purposes 

14 for which such amount was paid. 

15 SEC. 434. SYSTEM REQUIRED. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—In order for a State to receive an 

17 allotment under this subtitle, the State shall— 

18 (1) have in effect a system to protect and advo19 cate for the rights of workers within the State who 

20 are or who may be eligible for relief from applicable 

21 employment discrimination laws; and 

22 (2) designate a private nonprofit entity (re23 ferred to in this subtitle as an ‘‘lead entity’’) to sup24 port and carry out the activities of that system. 

25 (b) LEAD ENTITY REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 (1) CHARACTERISTICS OF LEAD ENTITY.—The 

2 State shall ensure that the lead entity designated 

3 under subsection (a) shall— 

4 (A) not be administered by the State, or 

5 an agency or instrumentality of a State; and 

6 (B) be independent of any entity that rep7 resents the interest of the State, employers, 

8 covered establishments, or other corporations. 

9 (2) NO REDESIGNATION OF LEAD ENTITY.— 

10 The lead entity designated under subsection (a) shall 

11 not be redesignated unless— 

12 (A) there is good cause for the redesigna13 tion; 

14 (B) the State has given the lead entity no15 tice of the intention to make such redesigna16 tion, including notice regarding the good cause 

17 for such redesignation, and given the lead entity 

18 an opportunity to respond to the assertion that 

19 good cause has been shown; 

20 (C) the lead entity has given timely notice 

21 of the intended redesignation directly to clients 

22 of the lead entity; 

23 (D) the State has provided, in plain 

24 English and in accessible formats for individ25 uals with disabilities and for individuals who 


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1 primarily speak a language other than English, 

2 an opportunity for public comment; and 

3 (E) the lead entity has an opportunity to 

4 appeal the redesignation to the Secretary, on 

5 the basis that the redesignation was not for 

6 good cause. 

7 (3) COSTS OF NOTICE.—The costs of the notice 

8 required under paragraph (2)(C) shall be paid by 

9 the State. 

10 (c) SYSTEM REQUIRED.—The system described in 

11 subsection (a) shall— 

12 (1) have the authority to— 

13 (A) pursue legal, administrative, and other 

14 appropriate remedies or approaches, as applica15 ble, to ensure the protection of, and advocacy 

16 for, the rights of individuals within the State 

17 who are or who may be eligible for relief from 

18 employment discrimination; and 

19 (B) provide information on and referral to 

20 programs and services addressing the needs of 

21 such individuals; 

22 (2) have the authority— 

23 (A) to investigate incidents of employment 

24 discrimination, including harassment, and to 

25 conduct investigations of systemic employment 


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1 discrimination, of such individuals if the inci2 dents are reported to the lead entity or if there 

3 is probable cause to believe that the incidents 

4 occurred; and 

5 (B) to, as necessary and appropriate, in6 vestigate and gather data regarding the wages, 

7 hours, and other conditions and practices of 

8 employment, enter and inspect such places and 

9 such records (and make such transcriptions 

10 thereof), question individuals described in para11 graph (1)(A), and investigate facts, conditions, 

12 practices, or matters; 

13 (3) on an annual basis, develop, submit to the 

14 Secretary, and take action with regard to goals and 

15 priorities developed through data driven strategic 

16 planning for the system’s activities; 

17 (4) on an annual basis, provide to the public, 

18 including individuals described in paragraph (1)(A), 

19 the regional office of the Commission that serves the 

20 State, and any State agency whose purpose is to re21 duce, eliminate, or redress employment discrimina22 tion, an opportunity to comment on— 

23 (A) the goals and priorities established by 

24 the lead entity and the rationale for the estab25 lishment of such goals; and 


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1 (B) the activities of the lead entity, includ2 ing the coordination of services with the Dis3 trict office of the Commission that serves the 

4 State, any State agency whose purpose is to re5 duce, eliminate, or redress employment dis6 crimination, and entities carrying out other re7 lated programs; 

8 (5) establish a grievance procedure for clients 

9 or prospective clients of the lead entity to ensure 

10 that individuals described in paragraph (1)(A) have 

11 full access to services of the lead entity; 

12 (6) have access at reasonable times to any indi13 vidual described in paragraph (1)(A) in a location in 

14 which services and other assistance are provided to 

15 such an individual, in order to carry out the purpose 

16 of this subtitle; 

17 (7) have access, not later than 3 business days 

18 after the lead entity makes a written request, to the 

19 records of any individual described in paragraph 

20 (1)(A) (including Federal and State workers) who is 

21 a client of the lead entity if such individual, or other 

22 legal representative of such individual, has author23 ized the lead entity to have such access; 

24 (8) hire and maintain sufficient numbers and 

25 types of staff (qualified by training and experience) 


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1 to carry out the lead entity’s functions, except that 

2 the State involved shall not apply hiring freezes, re3 ductions in force, prohibitions on travel, or other 

4 policies to the staff of the lead entity, to the extent 

5 that such policies would impact the staff or func6 tions of the lead entity funded with Federal funds 

7 or would prevent the lead entity from carrying out 

8 the functions of the system under this subtitle; 

9 (9) have the authority to educate policymakers; 

10 and 

11 (10) provide assurances to the Secretary that 

12 funds allotted to the State under section 433 will be 

13 used to supplement, and not supplant, the non-Fed14 eral funds that would otherwise be made available 

15 for the purposes for which the allotted funds are 

16 provided. 

17 (d) AMERICAN INDIAN CONSORTIUM.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon application to the Sec19 retary, the Secretary shall allot funds to one or more 

20 American Indian consortiums established to provide 

21 services under this subtitle, in accordance with sec22 tion 433(a)(5). Such funds shall be used to support 

23 services under this subtitle. 

24 (2) COORDINATION OF SYSTEMS.—An American 

25 Indian consortium under paragraph (1) shall be conVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:32 Sep 10, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00169 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4902.IS S4902

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1 sidered to be a system for purposes of this subtitle 

2 and shall coordinate those services with other sys3 tems serving the same geographic area. 

4 (3) RESPONSIBLE PARTY.—The Tribal council 

5 that designates the consortium shall carry out the 

6 responsibilities and exercise the authorities specified 

7 for a State in this subtitle, with regard to the con8 sortium. 

9 SEC. 435. ADMINISTRATION. 

10 (a) GOVERNING BOARD.—The system described in 

11 section 434 shall be organized as a private nonprofit entity 

12 with a multimember governing board, and such governing 

13 board shall be selected according to the policies and proce14 dures of the system, except that— 

15 (1) the governing board shall be composed of 

16 members who broadly represent or are knowledge17 able about the needs of the individuals served by the 

18 system; 

19 (2) a majority of the members of the board 

20 shall be— 

21 (A) attorneys representing the interests of 

22 workers; 

23 (B) advocates for workers with experience 

24 working to protect or expand workers’ rights; or 


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1 (C) workers who have experienced employ2 ment discrimination; 

(3) not more than 1 3 ⁄3 of the members of the 

4 governing board may be appointed by the chief exec5 utive officer of the State involved, in the case of any 

6 State in which such officer has the authority to ap7 point members of the board; 

8 (4) the membership of the governing board 

9 shall be subject to term limits set by the system to 

10 ensure rotating membership; and 

11 (5) any vacancy in the board shall be filled not 

12 later than 60 days after the date on which the va13 cancy occurs. 

14 (b) LEGAL ACTION.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this subtitle shall 

16 preclude a system from bringing a suit on behalf of 

17 individuals described in section 434(c)(1)(A) against 

18 a State, or an agency or instrumentality of a State. 

19 (2) USE OF AMOUNTS FROM JUDGMENT.—An 

20 amount received pursuant to a suit described in 

21 paragraph (1) through a court judgment may only 

22 be used by the system to further the purpose of this 

23 subtitle and shall not be used to augment payments 

24 to legal contractors or to award personal bonuses. 


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1 (c) PUBLIC NOTICE OF FEDERAL ONSITE REVIEW.— 

2 The Secretary shall provide advance public notice of, and 

3 solicit public comments regarding, any Federal pro4 grammatic or administrative onsite review of a system 

5 conducted under this subtitle. The Secretary shall prepare 

6 an onsite visit report containing the results of such review, 

7 which shall be distributed to the Governor of the State 

8 and to other interested public and private parties. The 

9 comments received in response to the notice and public 

10 comment solicitation shall be included in the onsite visit 

11 report. 

12 (d) REPORTS.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning for the fiscal year 

14 after the fiscal year during which this Act is en15 acted, each system established in a State pursuant 

16 to this subtitle shall annually prepare and transmit 

17 to the Secretary a report that describes the activi18 ties, accomplishments, and expenditures of the sys19 tem during the preceding fiscal year, including— 

20 (A) a description of the system’s goals, the 

21 extent to which the goals were achieved, and 

22 barriers to that achievement; and 

23 (B) the process used to obtain public 

24 input, the nature of such input, and how such 

25 input was used. 


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1 (2) DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.—For pur2 poses of the report described in paragraph (1), the 

3 Secretary shall not require the system to disclose the 

4 identity of, or any other personally identifiable infor5 mation related to, any individual requesting assist6 ance from the system. 

7 SEC. 436. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 There are authorized to be appropriated for allot9 ments under section 433 such sums as may be necessary. 

10 TITLE V—GENERAL PROVISIONS 

11 SEC. 501. SEVERABILITY. 

12 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

13 this Act, or the application of such provision or amend14 ment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconsti15 tutional, the remainder of this Act and the amendments 

16 made by this Act, and the application of the provision or 

17 amendment to any other person or circumstance, shall not 

18 be affected. 

Æ 


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