Bill Text: CA AB2407 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Public postsecondary educational institutions: sexual harassment complaints: state audits.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-01 - In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to suspense file. [AB2407 Detail]
Download: California-2023-AB2407-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2407
| Introduced by Assembly Member Hart |
February 12, 2024 |
An act to add Section 67382.5 to the Education Code, relating to public postsecondary education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2407, as introduced, Hart.
Public postsecondary educational institutions: sexual harassment complaints: state audits.
Existing federal law, known as Title IX, prohibits a person, on the basis of sex, from being excluded from participation in, being denied the benefits of, or being subject to discrimination, which includes sexual harassment, under, any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.
The Donahoe Higher Education Act establishes the California Community Colleges under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the California State University under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the University of California under the administration of the Regents of the University of California as the 3 segments of public postsecondary education in the state. A portion of the Donahoe Higher Education Act, known as the Equity in Higher Education Act, requires,
among other things, each postsecondary educational institution in the state to have a written policy on sexual harassment, including information on the complaint process and the timeline for the complaint process, as provided.
This bill would require the California State Auditor to, on or before January 1, 2026, and every 3 years thereafter, conduct an audit of the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California regarding their respective handling and investigation of sexual harassment complaints, and would require the findings of those audits to be reported to specified legislative committees, as provided. The bill would require the audits to, among other things, evaluate each institution’s compliance with applicable federal and state law in cases where the respondent of a sexual harassment complaint is a student, faculty member, or staff member and determine if each institution’s policies and procedures regarding
sexual harassment, as defined, are adequate to prevent, detect, and address sexual harassment.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 67382.5 is added to the Education Code, immediately following Section 67382, to read:67382.5.
(a) On or before January 1, 2026, and every three years thereafter, the California State Auditor shall conduct an audit of the California Community Colleges, the California State University, and the University of California regarding their respective handling and investigation of sexual harassment complaints. The audit for each institution shall do all of the following:(1) Evaluate compliance with applicable federal and state law in cases where the respondent of a sexual harassment complaint is a student, faculty member, or staff member.
(2) Evaluate efforts to coordinate and provide consistency and oversight in the institution’s response to sexual harassment complaints and
determine if those efforts are in compliance with applicable federal and state law and best practices.
(3) Review the investigatory process of sexual harassment complaints to determine if the process can be improved.
(4) Determine if policies and procedures regarding sexual harassment are adequate to prevent, detect, and address sexual harassment.
(5) (A) For allegations of sexual harassment complaints that are substantiated following an investigation, analyze the consistency, reasonableness, and timeliness of discipline administered by the institution.
(B) To the extent possible, assess if the discipline administered by the institution was proportional to the conduct, adequate to deter future harassment, and consistent with
applicable federal and state law, the institution’s policies and procedures, and best practices.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, the California State Auditor shall report the findings of each audit conducted pursuant to subdivision (a) to the respective chairs of the Assembly Committee on Higher Education, the Senate Committee on Education, and the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, consistent with the requirements of Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(c) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Dating violence” means violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim.
(2) “Domestic violence” has the same meaning as defined
in Section 12291(a)(12) of Title 34 of the United States Code.
(3) “Sexual assault” includes sexual violence, sexual battery, and any offense classified as a sex offense under the Uniform Crime Reporting Program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
(4) “Sexual battery” means the intentional touching of another person’s intimate parts without affirmative consent, intentionally causing a person to touch the intimate parts of another without affirmative consent, or using a person’s own intimate part to intentionally touch another person’s body without affirmative consent. Intimate parts include sexual organs, anus, groin, breast, or buttocks of a person.
(5) “Sexual exploitation” means a person taking sexual advantage of another person for the benefit of anyone other than that person without that person’s consent,
including, but not limited to, any of the following acts:
(A) The prostituting of another person.
(B) The trafficking of another person, defined as the inducement of a person to perform a commercial sex act, or labor or services, through force, fraud, or coercion.
(C) The recording of images, including video or photograph, or audio of another person’s sexual activity or intimate parts, without that person’s affirmative consent.
(D) The distribution of images, including video or photograph, or audio of another person’s sexual activity or intimate parts, if the individual distributing the images or audio knows or should have known that the person depicted in the images or audio did not affirmative consent to the disclosure.
(E) The viewing of another person’s sexual activity or intimate parts, in a place where that other person would have a reasonable expectation of privacy, without that person’s affirmative consent, for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire.
(6) (A) “Sexual harassment” means unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature, made by someone from or in the work or educational setting, under any of the following conditions:
(i) Submission to the conduct is explicitly or implicitly made a term or a condition of an individual’s employment, academic status, or progress.
(ii) Submission to, or rejection of, the conduct by the individual is used as the basis of
employment or academic decisions affecting the individual.
(iii) The conduct has the purpose or effect of having a negative impact upon the individual’s work or academic performance, or of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work or educational environment.
(iv) Submission to, or rejection of, the conduct by the individual is used as the basis for any decision affecting the individual regarding benefits and services, honors, programs, or activities available at or through the educational institution.
(B) “Sexual harassment” includes sexual battery, sexual violence, sexual exploitation, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking.
(7) “Sexual violence” means physical sexual acts perpetrated against a person without the
person’s affirmative consent. Physical sexual acts include both of the following:
(A) Rape, defined as penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any part or object, or oral copulation of a sex organ by another person, without the consent of the victim.
(B) Sexual battery, as defined in paragraph (4).
(8) “Stalking” means engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their own safety or the safety of others or suffer substantial emotional distress, or both.
