IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 135 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 16, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

AN ACT 

To amend the Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 to strengthen 

Federal antidiscrimination laws enforced by the Equal 

Employment Opportunity Commission and expand accountability within the Federal Government, and for 

other purposes. 


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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 ‘‘Federal Employee 

5 Antidiscrimination Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 Section 102 of the Notification and Federal Em8 ployee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (5 

9 U.S.C. 2301 note) is amended— 

10 (1) in paragraph (4), to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(4) accountability in the enforcement of Fed12 eral employee rights is furthered when Federal agen13 cies take appropriate disciplinary action against 

14 Federal employees who have been found to have 

15 committed discriminatory or retaliatory acts;’’; and 

16 (2) in paragraph (5)(A)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘nor is accountability’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘but accountability is not’’; and 

19 (B) by inserting ‘‘for what by law the 

20 agency is responsible’’ after ‘‘under this Act’’. 

21 SEC. 3. NOTIFICATION OF VIOLATION. 

22 Section 202 of the Notification and Federal Em23 ployee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (5 

24 U.S.C. 2301 note) is amended by adding at the end the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION OF FINAL AGENCY ACTION.— 

2 ‘‘(1) Not later than 30 days after a Federal 

3 agency takes final action or the Equal Employment 

4 Opportunity Commission issues an appellate decision 

5 involving a finding of discrimination or retaliation 

6 prohibited by a provision of law covered by para7 graph (1) or (2) of section 201(a), as applicable, the 

8 head of the agency subject to the finding shall pro9 vide notice for at least 1 year on the agency’s inter10 net website in a clear and prominent location linked 

11 directly from the agency’s internet home page stat12 ing that a finding of discrimination or retaliation 

13 has been made. 

14 ‘‘(2) The notification shall identify the date the 

15 finding was made, the date or dates on which the 

16 discriminatory or retaliatory act or acts occurred, 

17 and the law or laws violated by the discriminatory 

18 or retaliatory act or acts. The notification shall also 

19 advise Federal employees of the rights and protec20 tions available under the respective provisions of law 

21 covered by paragraph (1) or (2) of section 201(a).’’. 

22 SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

23 (a) ELECTRONIC FORMAT REQUIREMENT.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 203(a) of the Notifi25 cation and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and 


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1 Retaliation Act of 2002 (5 U.S.C. 2301 note) is 

2 amended— 

3 (A) by inserting ‘‘Homeland Security and’’ 

4 before ‘‘Governmental Affairs’’; 

5 (B) by inserting ‘‘Oversight and’’ before 

6 ‘‘Government Reform’’; and 

7 (C) by inserting ‘‘(in an electronic format 

8 prescribed by the Office of Personnel Manage9 ment)’’ after ‘‘an annual report’’. 

10 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

11 by paragraph (1)(C) shall take effect on the date 

12 that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

13 Act. 

14 (3) TRANSITION PERIOD.—Notwithstanding the 

15 requirements of section 203(a) of the Notification 

16 and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retal17 iation Act of 2002 (5 U.S.C. 2301 note), the report 

18 required under such section may be submitted in an 

19 electronic format, as prescribed by the Office of Per20 sonnel Management, during the period beginning on 

21 the date of enactment of this Act and ending on the 

22 effective date in paragraph (2). 

23 (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENT FOR DISCIPLINARY

24 ACTION.—Section 203 of such Act is amended by adding 

25 at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(c) DISCIPLINARY ACTION REPORT.—Not later 

2 than 60 days after the date on which a Federal agency 

3 takes final action or a Federal agency receives an appel4 late decision issued by the Equal Employment Oppor5 tunity Commission involving a finding of discrimination 

6 or retaliation in violation of a provision of law covered by 

7 paragraph (1) or (2) of section 201(a), as applicable, the 

8 employing Federal agency shall submit to the Commission 

9 a report stating whether disciplinary action has been initi10 ated against a Federal employee as a result of the viola11 tion.’’. 

12 SEC. 5. DATA TO BE POSTED BY EMPLOYING FEDERAL 

13 AGENCIES. 

14 Section 301(b) of the Notification and Federal Em15 ployee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (5 

16 U.S.C. 2301 note) is amended— 

17 (1) in paragraph (9)— 

18 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

19 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

20 (B) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking 

21 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘, and’’; 

22 and 

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

24 ‘‘(C) for each such finding counted under 

25 subparagraph (A), the agency shall specify— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the date of the finding; 

2 ‘‘(ii) the affected agency; 

3 ‘‘(iii) the law violated; and 

4 ‘‘(iv) whether a decision has been 

5 made regarding necessary disciplinary ac6 tion as a result of the finding.’’; and 

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

8 ‘‘(11) Data regarding each class action com9 plaint filed against the agency alleging discrimina10 tion or retaliation, including— 

11 ‘‘(A) information regarding the date on 

12 which each complaint was filed; 

13 ‘‘(B) a general summary of the allegations 

14 alleged in the complaint; 

15 ‘‘(C) an estimate of the total number of 

16 plaintiffs joined in the complaint if known; 

17 ‘‘(D) the current status of the complaint, 

18 including whether the class has been certified; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(E) the case numbers for the civil actions 

21 in which discrimination or retaliation has been 

22 found.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. DATA TO BE POSTED BY THE EQUAL EMPLOYMENT 

2 OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION. 

3 Section 302(b) of the Notification and Federal Em4 ployee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (5 

5 U.S.C. 2301 note) is amended by striking ‘‘(10)’’ and in6 serting ‘‘(11)’’. 

7 SEC. 7. NOTIFICATION AND FEDERAL EMPLOYEE ANTI8 DISCRIMINATION AND RETALIATION ACT 

9 AMENDMENTS. 

10 (a) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.—The Notifica11 tion and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retal12 iation Act of 2002 (5 U.S.C. 2301 note) is amended by 

13 adding after section 206 the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 207. COMPLAINT TRACKING. 

15 ‘‘Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

16 of the Federal Employee Antidiscrimination Act of 2019, 

17 each Federal agency shall establish a system to track each 

18 complaint of discrimination arising under section 

19 2302(b)(1) of title 5, United States Code, and adjudicated 

20 through the Equal Employment Opportunity process from 

21 inception to resolution of the complaint, including whether 

22 a decision has been made regarding necessary disciplinary 

23 action as the result of a finding of discrimination. 

24 ‘‘SEC. 208. NOTATION IN PERSONNEL RECORD. 

25 ‘‘If a Federal agency takes an adverse action covered 

26 under section 7512 of title 5, United States Code, against 


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1 a Federal employee for an act of discrimination or retalia2 tion prohibited by a provision of law covered by paragraph 

3 (1) or (2) of section 201(a), the agency shall, after all 

4 appeals relating to such action have been exhausted, in5 clude a notation of the adverse action and the reason for 

6 the action in the employee’s personnel record.’’. 

7 (b) PROCESSING AND REFERRAL.—The Notification 

8 and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation 

9 Act of 2002 (5 U.S.C. 2301 note) is amended by adding 

10 at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘TITLE IV—PROCESSING AND 

12 REFERRAL 

13 ‘‘SEC. 401. PROCESSING AND RESOLUTION OF COMPLAINTS. 

14 ‘‘Each Federal agency is responsible for the fair, im15 partial processing and resolution of complaints of employ16 ment discrimination and retaliation arising in the Federal 

17 administrative process and shall establish a model Equal 

18 Employment Opportunity Program that— 

19 ‘‘(1) is not under the control, either structurally 

20 or practically, of a Human Capital or General Coun21 sel office; 

22 ‘‘(2) is devoid of internal conflicts of interest 

23 and ensures fairness and inclusiveness within the or24 ganization; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) ensures the efficient and fair resolution of 

2 complaints alleging discrimination or retaliation. 

3 ‘‘SEC. 402. NO LIMITATION ON HUMAN CAPITAL OR GEN4 ERAL COUNSEL ADVICE. 

5 ‘‘Nothing in this title shall prevent a Federal agency’s 

6 Human Capital or General Counsel office from providing 

7 advice or counsel to Federal agency personnel on the proc8 essing and resolution of a complaint, including providing 

9 legal representation to a Federal agency in any pro10 ceeding. 

11 ‘‘SEC. 403. HEAD OF PROGRAM REPORTS TO HEAD OF 

12 AGENCY. 

13 ‘‘The head of each Federal agency’s Equal Employ14 ment Opportunity Program shall report directly to the 

15 head of the agency. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 404. REFERRALS OF FINDINGS OF DISCRIMINATION. 

17 ‘‘(a) EEOC FINDINGS OF DISCRIMINATION.—Not 

18 later than 30 days after the Equal Employment Oppor19 tunity Commission issues an appellate decision involving 

20 a finding of discrimination or retaliation within a Federal 

21 agency, the Commission shall refer the matter to the Of22 fice of Special Counsel. 

23 ‘‘(b) REFERRALS TO SPECIAL COUNSEL.—The Office 

24 of Special Counsel shall accept and review a referral from 

25 the Commission under subsection (a) for purposes of seekVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Jan 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H135.RFS H135

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1 ing disciplinary action under its authority against a Fed2 eral employee who commits an act of discrimination or re3 taliation. 

4 ‘‘(c) NOTIFICATION.—The Office of Special Counsel 

5 shall notify the Commission in a case in which the Office 

6 of Special Counsel initiates disciplinary action. 

7 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL COUNSEL APPROVAL.—A Federal 

8 agency may not take disciplinary action against a Federal 

9 employee for an alleged act of discrimination or retaliation 

10 referred by the Commission under this section except in 

11 accordance with the requirements of section 1214(f) of 

12 title 5, United States Code.’’. 

13 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The table of con14 tents in section 1(b) of the Notification and Federal Em15 ployee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (5 

16 U.S.C. 2301 note) is amended— 

17 (1) by inserting after the item relating to sec18 tion 206 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 207. Complaint tracking. 

‘‘Sec. 208. Notation in personnel record.’’; 

19 and 

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

‘‘TITLE IV—PROCESSING AND REFERRAL 

‘‘Sec. 401. Processing and resolution of complaints. 

‘‘Sec. 402. No limitation on Human Capital or General Counsel advice. 

‘‘Sec. 403. Head of Program reports to head of agency. 

‘‘Sec. 404. Referrals of findings of discrimination.’’. 


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1 SEC. 8. NONDISCLOSURE AGREEMENT LIMITATION. 

2 Section 2302(b) of title 5, United States Code, is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (13)— 

5 (A) by inserting ‘‘or the Office of Special 

6 Counsel’’ after ‘‘Inspector General’’; 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘implement’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘(A) implement’’; and 

9 (C) by striking the period that follows the 

10 quoted material and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

11 (2) by adding after subparagraph (A), as added 

12 by paragraph (1)(B), and preceding the flush left 

13 matter that follows paragraph (13), the following: 

14 ‘‘(B) implement or enforce any nondisclo15 sure policy, form, or agreement, if such policy, 

16 form, or agreement prohibits or restricts an em17 ployee from disclosing to Congress, the Office of 

18 Special Counsel, or an Office of the Inspector 

19 General any information that relates to any vio20 lation of any law, rule, or regulation, or mis21 management, a gross waste of funds, an abuse 

22 of authority, or a substantial, and specific danVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 Jan 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H135.RFS H135

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1 ger to public health or safety, or any other 

2 whistleblower protection.’’. 

Passed the House of Representatives January 15, 

2019. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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