I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 562 
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require public companies 
to provide sexual harassment claim disclosures in certain reports, to 
require public companies to implement mandatory sexual harassment 
training, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 28, 2021 
Mr. LIEU introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require 
public companies to provide sexual harassment claim dis-
closures in certain reports, to require public companies 
to implement mandatory sexual harassment training, and 
for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protections and Trans-
parency in the Workplace Act’’. 
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‘‘(D) discrimination because of genetic in-
formation under title II of the Genetic Informa-
tion Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 
2000ff et seq.); 
‘‘(E) discrimination on the basis of status 
concerning service in a uniformed service under 
section 4311(a) of title 38, United States Code; 
‘‘(F) sexual harassment; or 
‘‘(G) sexual assault or abuse.’’. 
(b) DISCLOSURES.—Section 13 of the Securities Ex-
change Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(s) COVERED DISCRIMINATION AND HARASSMENT 
DISCLOSURES.— 
‘‘(1) 
ANNUAL
AND
QUARTERLY
DISCLO-
SURES.—Each issuer required to file an annual or 
quarterly report under subsection (a) shall disclose, 
in each such report, the following: 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(i) The number of covered discrimi-
nation and harassment claims received 
within the reporting period. 
‘‘(ii) The current number of covered 
discrimination 
and 
harassment 
claims 
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being investigated at the time of the re-
port. 
‘‘(iii) The number of covered discrimi-
nation and harassment claims that were 
resolved within the reporting period. 
‘‘(iv) The number of settlements in 
connection with covered discrimination and 
harassment claims within the reporting pe-
riod. 
‘‘(v) The number of court judgements 
in connection with covered discrimination 
and harassment claims within the report-
ing period. 
‘‘(vi) The aggregate amount of pay-
ments made in connection with covered 
discrimination and harassment claims, in-
cluding payments made by persons other 
than the issuer (including amounts that 
may have been paid under an insurance 
policy or directly by an employee of the 
issuer). 
‘‘(vii) The outcomes of all adjudicated 
covered discrimination and harassment 
cases, including which party was the pre-
vailing party or, if there was no prevailing 
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party, whether there was a settlement with 
no admission of guilt. 
‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURES.— 
‘‘(i) The number of repeat settlements 
of covered discrimination and harassment 
claims with respect to a specific individual. 
‘‘(ii) The efforts taken by the issuer, 
including mandatory covered discrimina-
tion and harassment training, to prevent 
the perpetration of harassment, discrimina-
tion, or abuse by employees. 
‘‘(iii) The average length of time it 
takes for the issuer to resolve covered dis-
crimination and harassment claims. 
‘‘(C) INCLUSION OF RELATED ENTITIES.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—In making any 
disclosure under this paragraph, the issuer 
shall disclosure such information with re-
spect to itself as well as any parent, sub-
sidiary, or affiliate. 
‘‘(ii) DATA FORMAT.—In making any 
disclosure under this paragraph, the issuer 
shall report each of the following sets of 
data: 
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‘‘(I) In an aggregated format in-
cluding the disclosures with respect to 
the issuer and all parents, subsidi-
aries, and affiliates of the issuer. 
‘‘(II) The aggregate of the disclo-
sures for all parents, subsidiaries, and 
affiliates of the issuer. 
‘‘(III) Separate disclosures for 
the issuer and each parent, sub-
sidiary, or affiliate. 
‘‘(2) 
ATTESTATION
REQUIREMENT.—Each 
issuer required to file an annual or quarterly report 
under subsection (a) shall include with such report 
a separate attestation by the general counsel, the 
chief financial officer, the chief executive officer, and 
each member of the board of directors of the issuer 
that the issuer— 
‘‘(A) has in place policies and systems to 
ensure that the management of the issuer is 
aware of the requirements of this subsection, 
section 14C, and section 14D, and any rules 
issued thereunder; and 
‘‘(B) is in compliance with such require-
ments and rules. 
‘‘(3) CURRENT REPORTS.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each issuer required 
to file current reports under this section shall— 
‘‘(i) file such a report each time the 
issuer enters or exits any agreement re-
lated to the resolution of a covered dis-
crimination and harassment claim against 
the issuer (or a parent, subsidiary, or other 
affiliate of the issuer); and 
‘‘(ii) state in such report whether the 
agreement involved a claim against an em-
ployee who has had 2 or more previous 
covered discrimination and harassment 
claims made against them. 
‘‘(B) REDACTIONS.—In making a report 
required under subparagraph (A), the issuer— 
‘‘(i) may redact the names of specific 
individuals involved with the agreement; 
and 
‘‘(ii) unless the issuer has received 
consent from a complainant, shall redact 
the name of the complainant. 
‘‘(4) CLAIM DEFINED.—In this subsection, the 
term ‘claim’ means any allegation, assertion, or for-
mal legal action.’’. 
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SEC. 3. INDEPENDENT AND IMPARTIAL INVESTIGATORY 
REQUIREMENTS. 
The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a 
et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 14B the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SEC. 14C. INDEPENDENT AND IMPARTIAL INVESTIGATORY 
REQUIREMENTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In investigating any covered dis-
crimination and harassment claim, an issuer shall engage 
and pay for a third-party law firm to investigate reports 
of covered discrimination and harassment on an impartial, 
fact-finding basis rather than at the direction of or scope 
defined by the issuer. 
‘‘(b) SELECTION OF LAW FIRM.—In choosing the 
third-party law firm to be engaged under subsection (a), 
the issuer may only choose a law firm agreed to by all 
employees involved with the claim. 
‘‘(c) CLAIM DEFINED.—In this section, the term 
‘claim’ means any allegation, assertion, or formal legal ac-
tion.’’. 
SEC. 4. MANDATORY COVERED DISCRIMINATION AND HAR-
ASSMENT TRAINING, INCLUDING BYSTANDER 
TRAINING, AND WORKPLACE SURVEY. 
The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a 
et seq.), as amended by section 3, is further amended by 
inserting after section 14C the following: 
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