I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8618 
To require annual reporting by employers to the Equal Employment Oppor-
tunity Commission of the number of settlements of employee claims 
of discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex (in-
cluding pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), age (40 or 
older), disability, genetic information (including family medical history), 
or any combination of such factors, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 29, 2022 
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Mr. CARSON, Mr. 
GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. GOMEZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. JONES, 
Mr. LYNCH, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 
POCAN, Ms. PORTER, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. SMITH of Washington, 
Mr. TAKANO, Ms. TITUS, and Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To require annual reporting by employers to the Equal Em-
ployment Opportunity Commission of the number of set-
tlements of employee claims of discrimination based on 
race, color, national origin, religion, sex (including preg-
nancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), age (40 
or older), disability, genetic information (including family 
medical history), or any combination of such factors, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Ending Secrecy About Workplace Harassment Act’’. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that the following: 
(1) Thirty years after the United States Su-
preme Court held in Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson 
that workplace harassment creates a hostile or abu-
sive work environment and is a violation of title VII 
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, sexual harassment 
remains a widespread problem, affecting victims in 
every industry, at every level of employment. 
(2) In fiscal year 2020, the Equal Employment 
Opportunity Commission (in this Act referred to as 
the ‘‘Commission’’) received 67,448 charges of work-
place discrimination. The most frequently cited claim 
was retaliation with 37,632 charges, which made up 
55.8 percent of all charges filed. This was followed 
by disability with 24,324 charges (36.1 percent), 
race with 22,064 charges (32.7 percent), sex with 
21,398 charges (31.7 percent), age with 14,183 
charges (21.0 percent), national origin with 6,377 
charges (9.5 percent), color with 3,562 charges (5.3 
percent), religion with 2,404 charges (3.6 percent), 
and genetic information with 440 charges (0.7 per-
cent). 
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(3) An analysis of the Commission’s charge 
data between 2012 and 2016 shows that many indi-
viduals experience multiple bases of harassment. For 
example, 1 in 17 women who filed sexual harassment 
charges during this period experienced racialized 
sexual harassment, or harassment based not only on 
their sex but also their race. In addition, over 35 
percent of women also alleged retaliation. 
(4) According to the Commission’s Select Task 
Force in 2016, on the Study of Harassment in the 
Workplace, the prevalence of workplace harassment, 
and in particular sexual harassment— 
(A) causes mental and physical harm to 
the victim, which can include symptoms of de-
pression, 
general 
stress 
and 
anxiety, 
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and 
overall impaired psychological well-being; and 
(B) results in mental and physical harms 
to those that observe or perceive mistreatment 
in the workplace, as one study concluded ‘‘em-
ployees, female and male alike, who observed 
hostility directed toward female coworkers (both 
incivility and sexually harassing behavior) were 
more likely to experience lower psychological 
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well-being’’, which were ‘‘in turn linked to lower 
physical well-being’’. 
(5) Prevalence of harassment in the workplace 
causes substantial financial harm to victims, as they 
often try to avoid the harassing behavior by taking 
leave without pay or leaving the workplace entirely, 
resulting in a loss of wages. The U.S. Merit Systems 
Protection Board’s 1995 report on Sexual Harass-
ment in the Federal Workplace found sexual harass-
ment cost Federal employees $4,400,000 between 
1992 and 1994. 
(6) According to Commission records, in fiscal 
year 2020, the Commission secured $439,200,000 
for victims of discrimination in the private sector 
and State and local government workplaces through 
voluntary resolutions and litigation. 
(7) The Commission is responsible for enforcing 
Federal anti-discrimination laws that protect job ap-
plicants and employees, and has the authority to in-
vestigate charges of discrimination against employ-
ers who are covered by the law. 
SEC. 2. EMPLOYER REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 
(a) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Every employer re-
quired to submit to the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission an Employer Information Report EEO–1 
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shall submit annually a separate report that specifies the 
total number of settlements reached by the employer with 
employees involving workplace harassment and the num-
ber of such settlements in each of following categories: 
(1) Settlements relating to harassment based on 
race, color, or national origin. 
(2) Settlements relating to harassment based on 
religion. 
(3) Settlements relating to harassment based on 
sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gen-
der identity). 
(4) Settlements relating to harassment based on 
age (40 or older). 
(5) Settlements relating to harassment based on 
disability. 
(6) Settlements relating to harassment based on 
genetic information (including family medical his-
tory). 
(7) Settlements relating to harassment based on 
any combination of the harassment described in 
paragraphs (1) through (6). 
(b) REQUIRED REPORTING.—Examples of settle-
ments required to be reported under this section include 
any written or oral agreement where anything of value is 
conferred to an individual because of an allegation that 
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the individual has been a victim of workplace harassment 
on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex 
(including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender iden-
tity), age (40 or older), disability, genetic information (in-
cluding family medical history), any combination of such 
factors in return for such individual declining to further 
pursue resolution of the allegation through litigation or 
any internal process, mediation, or other workplace resolu-
tion. 
SEC. 3. RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES. 
(a) PROTECTION FROM RETALIATION.— 
(1) CONDUCT PROHIBITED.—An employer may 
not terminate any employee nor discriminate against 
any such employee with regards to terms and condi-
tions of employment because such employee— 
(A) inquires about an employer’s meeting 
of the requirements of this Act; or 
(B) complains about an employer’s failure 
to meet the requirements of this Act. 
(2) ENFORCEMENT.— 
(A) LIABILITY.—In addition to civil rights 
protections and remedies for retaliation avail-
able under other Federal, State, or local law, 
any employer who violates paragraph (1) shall 
be liable to any eligible employee affected for— 
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(i) damages equal to the amount of 
any wages, salary, employment benefits, or 
other compensation denied or lost to such 
employee by reason of the violation; 
(ii) the interest on the amount de-
scribed in clause (i) calculated at the pre-
vailing rate; 
(iii) an additional amount as liq-
uidated damages equal to the sum of the 
amount described in clause (i) and the in-
terest described in clause (ii); and 
(iv) such equitable relief as may be 
appropriate, including employment, rein-
statement, and promotion. 
(B) RIGHT OF ACTION.—An action to re-
cover the damages or equitable relief prescribed 
in subparagraph (A) may be maintained against 
any employer in any Federal or State court of 
competent jurisdiction by any one or more em-
ployees for and on behalf of— 
(i) the employee or employees; or 
(ii) the employees and other employ-
ees similarly situated. 
(C) FEES AND COSTS.—The court in such 
an action shall, in addition to any judgment 
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awarded to the plaintiff, allow a reasonable at-
torney’s fee, reasonable expert witness fees, and 
other costs of the action to be paid by the de-
fendant. 
(b) CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENTS AND SETTLE-
MENTS.— 
(1) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 
Act shall be construed to interfere with the right of 
an employee to enter into a confidentiality agree-
ment with the employee’s employer with respect to 
a claim of discrimination based on race, color, na-
tional origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sex-
ual orientation, gender identity), age (40 or older), 
disability, genetic information (including family med-
ical history), or any combination of such factors, the 
investigation of such a claim, or the out-of-court set-
tlement of such a claim. 
(2) LIMITATIONS ON AGREEMENTS.— 
(A) An employer may not use a confiden-
tiality agreement described in paragraph (1) as 
a basis for not submitting the information re-
quired by section 2. 
(B) A confidentiality agreement described 
in paragraph (1) shall not be construed as pro-
hibiting any party to such agreement from co-
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operating with law enforcement investigations 
into any claims of discrimination based on race, 
color, national origin, religion, sex (including 
pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity), 
age (40 or older), disability, genetic information 
(including family medical history), or any com-
bination of such factors. 
SEC. 4. EEOC REPORT TO CONGRESS. 
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 
shall annually report to Congress information relating to 
claims of discrimination based on race, color, national ori-
gin, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, 
or gender identity), age (40 or older), disability, genetic 
information (including family medical history), and any 
combination of such factors, including— 
(1) the number of settlements that were re-
ported to the Commission as defined by and re-
ported pursuant to section 2; 
(2) the number of charges alleging discrimina-
tion based on race, color, national origin, religion, 
sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gen-
der identity), age (40 or older), disability, genetic in-
formation (including family medical history), and 
any combination of such factors that were reported 
to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; 
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(3) a summary of any action taken by the Com-
mission based upon any such charges or complaints 
collected pursuant to this Act, such as litigation or 
settlements facilitated by the Commission pertaining 
to discrimination based on race, color, national ori-
gin, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual ori-
entation, or gender identity), age (40 or older), dis-
ability, genetic information (including family medical 
history), and any combination of such factors, in-
cluding a brief description of any outcome of such 
actions; and 
(4) a summary of mechanisms the Commission 
can take to increase public transparency of this data 
by individual employer without sacrificing the identi-
ties of the victims. 
SEC. 5. GAO STUDY AND REPORT. 
The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
conduct a comprehensive study of claims of discrimination 
based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex (includ-
ing pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), age 
(40 or older), disability, genetic information (including 
family medical history), or any combination of such fac-
tors involving both government and private sector employ-
ees and shall report to Congress not later than one year 
after the date of enactment of this Act the results of such 
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