Bill Text: CA AB2053 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Employment discrimination or harassment: education and training: abusive conduct.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2014-09-09 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 306, Statutes of 2014. [AB2053 Detail]

Download: California-2013-AB2053-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: AB 2053	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gonzalez

                        FEBRUARY 20, 2014

   An act to amend Section 12950.1 of the Government Code, relating
to employment.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2053, as introduced, Gonzalez. Employment discrimination or
harassment: education and training: abusive conduct.
   Existing law makes specified employment practices unlawful,
including the harassment of an employee directly by the employer or
indirectly by agents of the employer with the employer's knowledge.
Existing law further requires every employer to act to ensure a
workplace free of sexual harassment by implementing certain minimum
requirements, including posting sexual harassment information posters
at the workplace and obtaining and making available an information
sheet on sexual harassment.
   Existing law also requires employers, as defined, with 50 or more
employees to provide at least 2 hours of training and education
regarding sexual harassment to all supervisory employees, as
specified. Existing law requires each employer to provide that
training and education to each supervisory employee once every 2
years.
   This bill would additionally require that the above-described
training and education include, as a component of the training and
education, prevention of abusive conduct, as defined. The bill would
also make technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 12950.1 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   12950.1.  (a)  By January 1, 2006, an   An
 employer having 50 or more employees shall provide at least two
hours of classroom or other effective interactive training and
education regarding sexual harassment to all supervisory employees in
California  who are employed as of July 1, 2005, and to all
new supervisory employees  within six months of their
assumption of a supervisory position.  Any employer who has
provided this training and education to a supervisory employee after
January 1, 2003, is not required to provide training and education by
the January 1, 2006, deadline. After January 1, 2006, each 
 An  employer covered by this section shall provide sexual
harassment training and education to each supervisory employee in
California once every two years. The training and education required
by this section shall include information and practical guidance
regarding the federal and state statutory provisions concerning the
prohibition against and the prevention and correction of sexual
harassment and the remedies available to victims of sexual harassment
in employment. The training and education shall also include
practical examples aimed at instructing supervisors in the prevention
of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation, and shall be
presented by trainers or educators with knowledge and expertise in
the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. 
   (b) An employer shall also include prevention of abusive conduct
as a component of the training and education specified in subdivision
(a).  
   (b) 
    (c)  The state shall incorporate the training required
by subdivision (a) into the 80 hours of training provided to all new
supervisory employees pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 19995.4,
using existing resources. 
   (c) For purposes of this section only, "employer" means any person
regularly employing 50 or more persons or regularly receiving the
services of 50 or more persons providing services pursuant to a
contract, or any person acting as an agent of an employer, directly
or indirectly, the state, or any political or civil subdivision of
the state, and cities. 
   (d) Notwithstanding subdivisions (j) and (k) of Section 12940, a
claim that the training and education required by this section did
not reach a particular individual or individuals shall not in and of
itself result in the liability of any employer to any present or
former employee or applicant in any action alleging sexual
harassment. Conversely, an employer's compliance with this section
does not insulate the employer from liability for sexual harassment
of any current or former employee or applicant.
   (e) If an employer violates this section, the department may seek
an order requiring the employer to comply with these requirements.
   (f) The training and education required by this section is
intended to establish a minimum threshold and should not discourage
or relieve any employer from providing for longer, more frequent, or
more elaborate training and education regarding workplace harassment
or other forms of unlawful discrimination in order to meet its
obligations to take all reasonable steps necessary to prevent and
correct harassment and discrimination. 
   (g) (1) For purposes of this section only, "employer" means any
person regularly employing 50 or more persons or regularly receiving
the services of 50 or more persons providing services pursuant to a
contract, or any person acting as an agent of an employer, directly
or indirectly, the state, or any political or civil subdivision of
the state, and cities.  
   (2) For purposes of this section, "abusive conduct" means conduct
of an employer or employee in the workplace, with malice, that a
reasonable person would find hostile, offensive, and unrelated to an
employer's legitimate business interests. Abusive conduct may include
repeated infliction of verbal abuse, such as the use of derogatory
remarks, insults, and epithets, verbal or physical conduct that a
reasonable person would find threatening, intimidating, or
humiliating, or the gratuitous sabotage or undermining of a person's
work performance. A single act shall not constitute abusive conduct,
unless especially severe and egregious.