I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4729 

To require annual reporting by employers of the number of settlements 

with employees regarding claims of discrimination on the basis of sex, 

including verbal and physical sexual harassment, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 21, 2017 

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. 

CUMMINGS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. 

DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. SUOZZI, Ms. KUSTER of New 

Hampshire, Ms. MOORE, Mrs. DINGELL, and Mr. PALLONE) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

the Workforce 

A BILL 

To require annual reporting by employers of the number 

of settlements with employees regarding claims of discrimination on the basis of sex, including verbal and 

physical sexual harassment, and for other purposes. 

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; FINDINGS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Ending Secrecy About Workplace Sexual Harassment 

6 Act’’. 


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1 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that the following: 

2 (1) Thirty years after the United States Su3 preme Court held in Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson 

4 that sexual harassment creates a hostile or abusive 

5 work environment and is a violation of title VII of 

6 the Civil Rights Act of 1964, sexual harassment re7 mains a widespread problem, affecting victims in 

8 every industry, at every level of employment. 

9 (2) In fiscal year 2015, almost one-third of the 

10 90,000 charges filed with the Equal Employment 

11 Opportunity Commission involved harassment, and 

12 nearly a quarter of those harassment charges in13 volved sexual harassment. Of the total number of 

14 charges received that alleged harassment from em15 ployees working for private employers or for State 

16 and local government employers, approximately 45 

17 percent alleged harassment on the basis of sex. 

18 (3) According to the Commission’s Select Task 

19 Force in 2016, on the Study of Harassment in the 

20 Workplace, the prevalence of such harassment— 

21 (A) causes mental and physical harm to 

22 the victim, as the study concluded that ‘‘em23 ployees experiencing sexual harassment are 

24 more likely to report symptoms of depression, 

25 general stress and anxiety, posttraumatic stress 


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1 disorder (PTSD), and overall impaired psycho2 logical well-being’’; 

3 (B) results in harms, which are not limited 

4 to victims, as the study concluded that ‘‘em5 ployees, female and male alike, who observed 

6 hostility directed toward female coworkers (both 

7 incivility and sexually harassing behavior) were 

8 more likely to experience lower psychological 

9 well-being’’, which were ‘‘in turn linked to lower 

10 physical well-being’’. 

11 (4) Prevalence of sexual harassment in the 

12 workplace causes substantial financial harm to vic13 tims, as they often try to avoid the harassing behav14 ior by taking leave without pay or leaving the work15 place entirely, resulting in a loss of wages. The U.S. 

16 Merit Systems Protection Board’s 1995 report on 

17 Sexual Harassment in the Federal Workplace found 

18 sexual harassment cost Federal employees $4.4 mil19 lion between 1992 and 1994. 

20 (5) According to Commission records, from fis21 cal year 2010 to 2016, U.S. companies have paid 

22 out more than $295 million in public penalties over 

23 sexual harassment claims. This sum does not include 

24 any private settlements or internally resolved comVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:28 Dec 23, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4729.IH H4729

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1 plaints about which there is limited public informa2 tion. 

3 (6) The Commission is responsible for enforcing 

4 Federal anti-discrimination laws that protect job ap5 plicants and employees, and has the authority to in6 vestigate charges of discrimination against employ7 ers who are covered by the law. 

8 (7) The Commission does not currently receive 

9 disclosures from employers on annual EEO–1 re10 ports regarding claims of discrimination on the basis 

11 of sex, including verbal and physical sexual harass12 ment made directly to the employer and resolved in13 ternally through out-of-court settlements or other 

14 mediation. 

15 SEC. 2. EMPLOYER REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 

16 (a) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Every employer re17 quired to submit to the Equal Employment Opportunity 

18 Commission an Employer Information Report EEO–1 

19 shall include in such report the number of settlements 

20 reached by the employer with an employee in the resolu21 tion of claims pertaining to discrimination on the basis 

22 of sex, including verbal and physical sexual harassment. 

23 (b) REQUIRED REPORTING.—Examples of settle24 ments required to be reported under this section include 

25 any agreement where anything of value is conferred to the 


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1 individual raising the claim in return for such individual 

2 declining to further pursue the claim, any internal medi3 ation or other workplace resolution that results in the indi4 vidual declining to further pursue the claim. 

5 (c) EXAMPLES OF OFFENSIVE CONDUCT THAT CON6 STITUTE SEXUAL HARASSMENT.—Claims pertaining to 

7 sexual harassment are those that complain of acts such 

8 as the following— 

9 (1) inappropriate or unwanted touching; 

10 (2) verbal comments about sex or of a sexual 

11 nature, which may include comments to an indi12 vidual about her or his body or sexual or romantic 

13 activity or the body or sexual or romantic activity of 

14 the individual making the comments; 

15 (3) referring to another individual by a name or 

16 nickname of a romantic, demeaning, or sexual na17 ture; 

18 (4) inappropriate gestures of a sexual nature; 

19 (5) unwanted proposals for sexual activity; 

20 (6) showing another individual photos or other 

21 images that are sexually explicit or are otherwise of 

22 a sexual nature; or 

23 (7) undue attention to or questions about a per24 son’s sexual relationships, sexual history, sexual ori25 entation, or gender identity. 


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1 SEC. 3. RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES. 

2 (a) PROTECTION FROM RETALIATION.— 

3 (1) CONDUCT PROHIBITED.—An employer may 

4 not terminate any employee nor discriminate against 

5 any such employee with regards to terms and condi6 tions of employment because such employee— 

7 (A) inquires about an employer’s meeting 

8 of the requirements of this Act; or 

9 (B) complains about an employer’s failure 

10 to meet the requirements of this Act. 

11 (2) ENFORCEMENT.— 

12 (A) LIABILITY.—In addition to civil rights 

13 protections and remedies for retaliation avail14 able under other Federal, State, or local law, 

15 any employer who violates paragraph (1) shall 

16 be liable to any eligible employee affected for— 

17 (i) damages equal to the amount of 

18 any wages, salary, employment benefits, or 

19 other compensation denied or lost to such 

20 employee by reason of the violation; 

21 (ii) the interest on the amount de22 scribed in clause (i) calculated at the pre23 vailing rate; 

24 (iii) an additional amount as liq25 uidated damages equal to the sum of the 


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1 amount described in clause (i) and the in2 terest described in clause (ii); and 

3 (iv) such equitable relief as may be 

4 appropriate, including employment, rein5 statement, and promotion. 

6 (B) RIGHT OF ACTION.—An action to re7 cover the damages or equitable relief prescribed 

8 in subparagraph (1) may be maintained against 

9 any employer in any Federal or State court of 

10 competent jurisdiction by any one or more em11 ployees for and on behalf of— 

12 (i) the employee or employees; or 

13 (ii) the employees and other employ14 ees similarly situated. 

15 (C) FEES AND COSTS.—The court in such 

16 an action shall, in addition to any judgment 

17 awarded to the plaintiff, allow a reasonable at18 torney’s fee, reasonable expert witness fees, and 

19 other costs of the action to be paid by the de20 fendant. 

21 (b) CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENTS AND SETTLE22 MENTS.— 

23 (1) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

24 Act shall be construed to interfere with the right of 

25 an employee to enter into a confidentiality agreeVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:28 Dec 23, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4729.IH H4729

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1 ment with his or her employer with respect to a 

2 claim of discrimination on the basis of sex, including 

3 verbal and physical sexual harassment, the investiga4 tion of such a claim, or the out-of-court settlement 

5 of such a claim. 

6 (2) LIMITATIONS ON AGREEMENTS.— 

7 (A) An employer may not use a confiden8 tiality agreement described in paragraph (1) as 

9 a basis for not submitting the information re10 quired by section 2. 

11 (B) A confidentiality agreement described 

12 in paragraph (1) shall not be construed as pro13 hibiting any party to such agreement from co14 operating with law enforcement investigations 

15 into any claims of discrimination on the basis 

16 of sex, including verbal and physical sexual har17 assment. 

18 SEC. 4. EEOC REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

19 The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 

20 shall annually report to Congress information relating to 

21 claims of discrimination on the basis of sex, including 

22 verbal and physical sexual harassment, including— 

23 (1) the number of settlements that were re24 ported to the Commission as defined by and re25 ported pursuant to section 2; 


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1 (2) the number of charges alleging discrimina2 tion on the basis of sex that were reported to the 

3 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, includ4 ing verbal and physical sexual harassment made di5 rectly to the Commission; and 

6 (3) a summary of any action taken by the Com7 mission based upon any such charges or complaints 

8 collected pursuant to this Act, such as litigation or 

9 settlements facilitated by the Commission pertaining 

10 to discrimination on the basis of sex, including 

11 verbal and physical sexual harassment, including a 

12 brief description of any outcome of such actions. 

13 SEC. 5. GAO STUDY AND REPORT. 

14 The Comptroller General of the United States shall 

15 conduct a comprehensive study of discrimination on the 

16 basis of sex, including verbal and physical sexual harass17 ment involving Federal employees and shall report to Con18 gress not later than one year after the date of enactment 

19 of this Act the results of such study and recommendations 

20 for legislation or other action for improving transparency 

21 regarding claims of discrimination on the basis of sex, in22 cluding verbal and physical sexual harassment, and rec23 ommendations for legislation or other action for improving 


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1 employer accountability and transparency regarding such 

2 claims. 

Æ 


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