I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2501 

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

status or history of unemployment. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 12, 2011 

Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, 

Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 

FILNER, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. 

FRANK of Massachusetts, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. 

NORTON, Ms. MOORE, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. FARR, Mr. MORAN, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, 

Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Ms. RICHARDSON, and Mr. ELLISON) 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 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that denial of em3 ployment opportunities to individuals because they are or 

4 have been unemployed is discriminatory and burdens com5 merce by— 

6 (1) reducing personal consumption and under7 mining economic stability and growth; 

8 (2) squandering human capital essential to the 

9 Nation’s economic vibrancy and growth; 

10 (3) increasing demands for State and Federal 

11 unemployment insurance benefits, reducing trust 

12 fund assets, and leading to higher payroll taxes for 

13 employers, cuts in benefits for jobless workers, or 

14 both; 

15 (4) imposing additional burdens on publicly 

16 funded health and welfare programs; and 

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

18 revenues that states, localities and the Federal Gov19 ernment rely on to support operations and institu20 tions essential to commerce. 

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

22 consideration of an individual’s status as unemployed in 

23 screening for or filling positions except where a require24 ment related to employment status is a bona fide occupa25 tional qualification reasonably necessary to successful per26 formance in the job and to eliminate the burdens imposed 


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1 on commerce by excluding such individuals from employ2 ment. 

3 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

4 As used in this Act— 

5 (1) the term ‘‘employer’’ means any person en6 gaged in commerce or any industry or activity af7 fecting commerce who has 15 or more employees for 

8 each working day in each of 20 or more calendar 

9 weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, and 

10 includes— 

11 (A) any person who acts, directly or indi12 rectly, in the interest of an employer with re13 spect to employing individuals to work for the 

14 employer; and 

15 (B) any successor in interest of an em16 ployer. 

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

18 person regularly undertaking with or without com19 pensation to procure employees for an employer or 

20 to procure for individuals opportunities to work for 

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

22 and includes any person who maintains an Internet 

23 website that publishes advertisements or announce24 ments of job openings; 


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

2 person who was refused consideration for employ3 ment or was not hired by an employer because of the 

4 person’s current employment status, or any person 

5 who was not considered, screened, or referred for 

6 employment opportunities by an employment agency 

7 because of the person’s current employment status; 

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

9 individual’s present or past unemployment regard10 less of the length of time such individual was unem11 ployed; and 

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

13 of Labor. 

14 SEC. 4. PROHIBITED ACTS. 

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

16 an employer to— 

17 (1) refuse to consider for employment or refuse 

18 to offer employment to an individual because of the 

19 individual’s status as unemployed; 

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

21 other medium, an advertisement or announcement 

22 for any job that includes— 

23 (A) any provision stating or indicating that 

24 an individual’s status as unemployed disquali25 fies the individual for a job; and 


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1 (B) any provision stating or indicating that 

2 an employer will not consider an applicant for 

3 employment based on that individual’s status as 

4 unemployed; and 

5 (3) direct or request that an employment agen6 cy take an individual’s status as unemployed into ac7 count in screening or referring applicants for em8 ployment. 

9 (b) EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES.—It shall be an unlaw10 ful practice for an employment agency to— 

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

12 employment based on the individual’s status as un13 employed; 

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

15 any manner that may limit their access to informa16 tion about jobs or referral for consideration of jobs 

17 because of their status as unemployed; or 

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

19 any other medium, an advertisement or announce20 ment for any job vacancy that includes— 

21 (A) any provision stating or indicating that 

22 an individual’s status as unemployed disquali23 fies the individual for a job; and 

24 (B) any provision stating or indicating that 

25 an employer will not consider individuals for 


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1 employment based on that individual’s status as 

2 unemployed. 

3 (c) INTERFERENCE WITH RIGHTS, PROCEEDINGS OR

4 INQUIRIES.—It shall be unlawful for any employer or em5 ployment agency to— 

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

7 of or the attempt to exercise, any right provided 

8 under this Act; or 

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

10 manner to discriminate against any individual be11 cause such individual— 

12 (A) opposed any practice made unlawful by 

13 this Act; 

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

15 or caused to be instituted any proceeding, 

16 under or related to this Act; 

17 (C) has given, or is about to give, any in18 formation in connection with any inquiry or 

19 proceeding relating to any right provided under 

20 this Act; or 

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

22 any inquiry or proceeding relating to any right 

23 provided under this Act. 

24 (d) BONA FIDE OCCUPATIONAL QUALIFICATION.— 

25 Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, considerVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:58 Jul 13, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2501.IH H2501

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1 ation by an employer or employment agency of an individ2 ual’s status as unemployed shall not be an unlawful em3 ployment practice where an individual’s employment in a 

4 similar or related job for a period of time reasonably proxi5 mate to the hiring of such individual is a bona fide occupa6 tional qualification reasonably necessary to successful per7 formance of the job that is being filled. 

8 SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT. 

9 (a) CIVIL ACTION BY INDIVIDUAL.— 

10 (1) LIABILITY FOR EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOY11 MENT AGENCIES.—Any employer or employment 

12 agency that violates section 4(a) and (b) shall be lia13 ble to any affected individual— 

14 (A) for actual damages equal to— 

15 (i) the amount of— 

16 (I) any wages, salary, employ17 ment benefits, or other compensation 

18 denied or lost to such individual by 

19 reason of the violation; or 

20 (II) in a case in which wages, 

21 salary, employment benefits, or other 

22 compensation have not been denied or 

23 lost to the individual, any actual mon24 etary losses sustained by the indi25 vidual as a direct result of the violaVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:58 Jul 13, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2501.IH H2501

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1 tion or a civil penalty of $1,000 per 

2 violation per day, whichever is great3 er; 

4 (ii) the interest on the amount de5 scribed in clause (i) calculated at the pre6 vailing rate; and 

7 (iii) an additional amount as liq8 uidated damages equal to the sum of the 

9 amount described in clause (i) and the in10 terest described in clause (ii), except that 

11 if an employer or employment agency that 

12 has violated section 4 proves to the satis13 faction of the court that the act or omis14 sion that violated section 4 was in good 

15 faith and that the employer had reasonable 

16 grounds for believing that the act or omis17 sion was not a violation of section 4, such 

18 court may, in its discretion, reduce the 

19 amount of the liability to the amount and 

20 interest determined under clauses (i) and 

21 (ii), respectively; and 

22 (B) for such equitable relief as may be ap23 propriate, including employment and compen24 satory and punitive damages. 


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

2 the damages or equitable relief prescribed in para3 graph (1) of this subsection may be maintained 

4 against any employer or employment agency in any 

5 Federal or State court of competent jurisdiction by 

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

7 (A) the affected individual; or 

8 (B) the affected individual and other indi9 viduals similarly situated. 

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

11 action shall, in addition to any judgment awarded to 

12 the plaintiff, allow a reasonable attorney’s fee, rea13 sonable expert witness fees, and other costs of the 

14 action to be paid by the defendant. 

15 (4) LIMITATIONS.—The right provided by para16 graph (2) of this subsection to bring an action by or 

17 on behalf of any affected individual shall termi18 nate— 

19 (A) on the filing of a complaint by the Sec20 retary in an action under subsection (d) in 

21 which restraint is sought of any violation of sec22 tion 4; or 

23 (B) on the filing of a complaint by the Sec24 retary in an action under subsection (b) in 

25 which a recovery is sought of the damages deVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:58 Jul 13, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2501.IH H2501

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1 scribed in paragraph (1)(A) owing to an af2 fected individual by an employer or employment 

3 agency liable under paragraph (1), unless the 

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

5 dismissed without prejudice on motion of the 

6 Secretary. 

7 (b) ACTION BY THE SECRETARY.— 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION.—The Secretary 

9 shall receive, investigate, and attempt to resolve 

10 complaints of violations of section 4 in the same 

11 manner that the Secretary receives, investigates, and 

12 attempts to resolve complaints of violations of sec13 tions 6 and 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

14 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206 and 207). 

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

16 an action in any court of competent jurisdiction— 

17 (A) to enjoin violations of this title and 

18 seek other relief going forward necessary to pre19 vent future violations; 

20 (B) to recover— 

21 (i) the damages described in sub22 section (a)(1)(A); 

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

24 4(c), a civil penalty of not less than $250 

25 per violation; or 


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1 (iii) such other equitable relief the 

2 Court deems appropriate. 

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

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

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

6 on order of the Secretary, directly to each affected 

7 individual. Any such sums recovered pursuant to 

8 paragraph (2)(A) that are not paid to an affected in9 dividual because of inability to do so within a period 

10 of 3 years and any sums recovered pursuant to para11 graph (2)(B) shall be deposited into the Treasury of 

12 the United States as miscellaneous receipts. 

13 (c) LIMITATION.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para15 graph (2), an action under subsection (a) may be 

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

17 last event constituting the alleged violation for which 

18 the action is brought, provided that the limitations 

19 for filing an action shall be tolled during the period 

20 that the Secretary is considering a complaint against 

21 any defendant named in a complaint filed with the 

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

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

24 action brought for a willful violation of section 4, 

25 such action may be brought within 3 years of the 


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1 date of the last event constituting the alleged viola2 tion for which such action is brought, provided that 

3 the limitations for filing an action by an individual 

4 shall be tolled during the period that the Secretary 

5 is considering a complaint pursuant to subsection 

6 (b)(1). 

7 (3) COMMENCEMENT.—In determining when an 

8 action is commenced by the Secretary under this 

9 section for the purposes of this subsection, it shall 

10 be considered to be commenced on the date when the 

11 Secretary files a complaint in a court of competent 

12 jurisdiction. 

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

14 district courts of the United States shall have jurisdiction, 

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

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

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

18 be appropriate, including employment and monetary 

19 damages. 

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

21 may appear for and represent the Secretary on any litiga22 tion brought under this section. 

Æ 


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