I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3972 

To prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of an individual’s 

status or history of unemployment. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 29, 2014 

Ms. DELAURO (for herself and Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

A BILL 

To prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of 

an individual’s status or history of unemployment. 

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 ‘‘Fair Employment Op5 portunity Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that denial of em8 ployment opportunities to individuals because they are or 

9 have been unemployed is discriminatory and burdens com10 merce by— 


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1 (1) reducing personal consumption and under2 mining economic stability and growth; 

3 (2) squandering human capital essential to the 

4 Nation’s economic vibrancy and growth; 

5 (3) increasing demands for State and Federal 

6 unemployment insurance benefits, reducing trust 

7 fund assets, and leading to higher payroll taxes for 

8 employers, cuts in benefits for jobless workers, or 

9 both; 

10 (4) imposing additional burdens on publicly 

11 funded health and welfare programs; and 

12 (5) depressing income, property, and other tax 

13 revenues that States, localities and the Federal Gov14 ernment rely on to support operations and institu15 tions essential to commerce. 

16 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to prohibit 

17 consideration of an individual’s status as unemployed in 

18 screening for or filling positions except where a require19 ment related to employment status is a bona fide occupa20 tional qualification reasonably necessary to successful per21 formance in the job and to eliminate the burdens imposed 

22 on commerce by excluding such individuals from employ23 ment. 

24 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

25 As used in this Act— 


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1 (1) the term ‘‘employer’’ means any person en2 gaged in commerce or any industry or activity af3 fecting commerce who has 15 or more employees for 

4 each working day in each of 20 or more calendar 

5 weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, and 

6 includes— 

7 (A) any person who acts, directly or indi8 rectly, in the interest of an employer with re9 spect to employing individuals to work for the 

10 employer; and 

11 (B) any successor in interest of an em12 ployer; 

13 (2) the term ‘‘employment agency’’ means any 

14 person regularly undertaking with or without com15 pensation to procure employees for an employer or 

16 to procure for individuals opportunities to work for 

17 an employer and includes an agent of such a person, 

18 and includes any person who maintains an Internet 

19 website that publishes advertisements or announce20 ments of job openings; 

21 (3) the term ‘‘affected individual’’ means any 

22 person who was refused consideration for employ23 ment or was not hired by an employer because of the 

24 person’s current employment status, or any person 

25 who was not considered, screened, or referred for 


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1 employment opportunities by an employment agency 

2 because of the person’s current employment status; 

3 (4) the term ‘‘status as unemployed’’ means an 

4 individual’s present or past unemployment regard5 less of the length of time such individual was unem6 ployed; and 

7 (5) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

8 of Labor. 

9 SEC. 4. PROHIBITED ACTS. 

10 (a) EMPLOYERS.—It shall be an unlawful practice for 

11 an employer to— 

12 (1) refuse to consider for employment or refuse 

13 to offer employment to an individual because of the 

14 individual’s status as unemployed; 

15 (2) publish in print, on the Internet, or in any 

16 other medium, an advertisement or announcement 

17 for any job that includes— 

18 (A) any provision stating or indicating that 

19 an individual’s status as unemployed disquali20 fies the individual for a job; and 

21 (B) any provision stating or indicating that 

22 an employer will not consider an applicant for 

23 employment based on that individual’s status as 

24 unemployed; and 


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1 (3) direct or request that an employment agen2 cy take an individual’s status as unemployed into ac3 count in screening or referring applicants for em4 ployment. 

5 (b) EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES.—It shall be an unlaw6 ful practice for an employment agency to— 

7 (1) refuse to consider or refer an individual for 

8 employment based on the individual’s status as un9 employed; 

10 (2) limit, segregate, or classify individuals in 

11 any manner that may limit their access to informa12 tion about jobs or referral for consideration of jobs 

13 because of their status as unemployed; or 

14 (3) publish, in print or on the Internet or in 

15 any other medium, an advertisement or announce16 ment for any job vacancy that includes— 

17 (A) any provision stating or indicating that 

18 an individual’s status as unemployed disquali19 fies the individual for a job; and 

20 (B) any provision stating or indicating that 

21 an employer will not consider individuals for 

22 employment based on that individual’s status as 

23 unemployed. 


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1 (c) INTERFERENCE WITH RIGHTS, PROCEEDINGS OR

2 INQUIRIES.—It shall be unlawful for any employer or em3 ployment agency to— 

4 (1) interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise 

5 of or the attempt to exercise, any right provided 

6 under this Act; or 

7 (2) refuse to hire, to discharge, or in any other 

8 manner to discriminate against any individual be9 cause such individual— 

10 (A) opposed any practice made unlawful by 

11 this Act; 

12 (B) has filed any charge, or has instituted 

13 or caused to be instituted any proceeding, 

14 under or related to this Act; 

15 (C) has given, or is about to give, any in16 formation in connection with any inquiry or 

17 proceeding relating to any right provided under 

18 this Act; or 

19 (D) has testified, or is about to testify, in 

20 any inquiry or proceeding relating to any right 

21 provided under this Act. 

22 (d) BONA FIDE OCCUPATIONAL QUALIFICATION.— 

23 Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, consider24 ation by an employer or employment agency of an individ25 ual’s status as unemployed shall not be an unlawful emVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:49 Feb 01, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3972.IH H3972

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1 ployment practice where an individual’s employment in a 

2 similar or related job for a period of time reasonably proxi3 mate to the hiring of such individual is a bona fide occupa4 tional qualification reasonably necessary to successful per5 formance of the job that is being filled. 

6 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT. 

7 (a) CIVIL ACTION BY INDIVIDUAL.— 

8 (1) LIABILITY FOR EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOY9 MENT AGENCIES.—Any employer or employment 

10 agency that violates sections 4(a) and (b) shall be 

11 liable to any affected individual— 

12 (A) for actual damages equal to— 

13 (i) the amount of— 

14 (I) any wages, salary, employ15 ment benefits, or other compensation 

16 denied or lost to such individual by 

17 reason of the violation; or 

18 (II) in a case in which wages, 

19 salary, employment benefits, or other 

20 compensation have not been denied or 

21 lost to the individual, any actual mon22 etary losses sustained by the indi23 vidual as a direct result of the viola24 tion or a civil penalty of $1,000 per 


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1 violation per day, whichever is great2 er; 

3 (ii) the interest on the amount de4 scribed in clause (i) calculated at the pre5 vailing rate; and 

6 (iii) an additional amount as liq7 uidated damages equal to the sum of the 

8 amount described in clause (i) and the in9 terest described in clause (ii), except that 

10 if an employer or employment agency that 

11 has violated section 4 proves to the satis12 faction of the court that the act or omis13 sion that violated section 4 was in good 

14 faith and that the employer had reasonable 

15 grounds for believing that the act or omis16 sion was not a violation of section 4, such 

17 court may, in its discretion, reduce the 

18 amount of the liability to the amount and 

19 interest determined under clauses (i) and 

20 (ii), respectively; and 

21 (B) for such equitable relief as may be ap22 propriate, including employment and compen23 satory and punitive damages. 

24 (2) RIGHT OF ACTION.—An action to recover 

25 the damages or equitable relief prescribed in paraVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:49 Feb 01, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3972.IH H3972

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1 graph (1) of this subsection may be maintained 

2 against any employer or employment agency in any 

3 Federal or State court of competent jurisdiction by 

4 any one or more persons for and in behalf of— 

5 (A) the affected individual; or 

6 (B) the affected individual and other indi7 viduals similarly situated. 

8 (3) FEES AND COSTS.—The court in such an 

9 action shall, in addition to any judgment awarded to 

10 the plaintiff, allow a reasonable attorney’s fee, rea11 sonable expert witness fees, and other costs of the 

12 action to be paid by the defendant. 

13 (4) LIMITATIONS.—The right provided by para14 graph (2) of this subsection to bring an action by or 

15 on behalf of any affected individual shall termi16 nate— 

17 (A) on the filing of a complaint by the Sec18 retary in an action under subsection (d) in 

19 which restraint is sought of any violation of sec20 tion 4; or 

21 (B) on the filing of a complaint by the Sec22 retary in an action under subsection (b) in 

23 which a recovery is sought of the damages de24 scribed in paragraph (1)(A) owing to an af25 fected individual by an employer or employment 


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1 agency liable under paragraph (1), unless the 

2 action described in subparagraph (A) or (B) is 

3 dismissed without prejudice on motion of the 

4 Secretary. 

5 (b) ACTION BY THE SECRETARY.— 

6 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION.—The Secretary 

7 shall receive, investigate, and attempt to resolve 

8 complaints of violations of section 4 in the same 

9 manner that the Secretary receives, investigates, and 

10 attempts to resolve complaints of violations of sec11 tions 6 and 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

12 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206 and 207). 

13 (2) CIVIL ACTION.—The Secretary may bring 

14 an action in any court of competent jurisdiction— 

15 (A) to enjoin violations of this title and 

16 seek other relief going forward necessary to pre17 vent future violations; and 

18 (B) to recover— 

19 (i) the damages described in sub20 section (a)(1)(A); 

21 (ii) in the case of a violation of section 

22 4(c), a civil penalty of not less than $250 

23 per violation; or 

24 (iii) such other equitable relief the 

25 Court deems appropriate. 


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1 (3) SUMS RECOVERED.—Any sums recovered by 

2 the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (2)(A) shall be 

3 held in a special deposit account and shall be paid, 

4 on order of the Secretary, directly to each affected 

5 individual. Any such sums recovered pursuant to 

6 paragraph (2)(A) that are not paid to an affected in7 dividual because of inability to do so within a period 

8 of 3 years and any sums recovered pursuant to para9 graph (2)(B) shall be deposited into the Treasury of 

10 the United States as miscellaneous receipts. 

11 (c) LIMITATION.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para13 graph (2), an action under subsection (a) may be 

14 brought not later than 2 years after the date of the 

15 last event constituting the alleged violation for which 

16 the action is brought, provided that the limitations 

17 for filing an action shall be tolled during the period 

18 that the Secretary is considering a complaint against 

19 any defendant named in a complaint filed with the 

20 Secretary under subsection (b)(1) above. 

21 (2) WILLFUL VIOLATION.—In the case of such 

22 action brought for a willful violation of section 4, 

23 such action may be brought within 3 years of the 

24 date of the last event constituting the alleged viola25 tion for which such action is brought, provided that 


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1 the limitations for filing an action by an individual 

2 shall be tolled during the period that the Secretary 

3 is considering a complaint pursuant to subsection 

4 (b)(1). 

5 (3) COMMENCEMENT.—In determining when an 

6 action is commenced by the Secretary under this 

7 section for the purposes of this subsection, it shall 

8 be considered to be commenced on the date when the 

9 Secretary files a complaint in a court of competent 

10 jurisdiction. 

11 (d) ACTION FOR INJUNCTION BY SECRETARY.—The 

12 district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction, 

13 for cause shown, in an action brought by the Secretary— 

14 (1) to restrain violations of section 4; and 

15 (2) to award such other equitable relief as may 

16 be appropriate, including employment and monetary 

17 damages. 

18 (e) SOLICITOR OF LABOR.—The Solicitor of Labor 

19 may appear for and represent the Secretary on any litiga20 tion brought under this section. 

Æ 


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