Bill Text: FL S0982 | 2015 | Regular Session | Introduced

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

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Bill Title: Florida Civil Rights Act

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Passed) 2015-05-22 - Chapter No. 2015-68 [S0982 Detail]

Download: Florida-2015-S0982-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2015                                     SB 982
       
       
        
       By Senator Thompson
       
       
       
       
       
       12-00862-15                                            2015982__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Florida Civil Rights Act;
    3         amending s. 509.092, F.S.; prohibiting discrimination
    4         on the basis of pregnancy in public lodging and food
    5         service establishments; amending s. 760.01, F.S.;
    6         revising the general purpose of the Florida Civil
    7         Rights Act of 1992; amending s. 760.05, F.S.; revising
    8         the function of the Florida Commission on Human
    9         Relations; amending s. 760.07, F.S.; providing civil
   10         and administrative remedies for discrimination on the
   11         basis of pregnancy; amending s. 760.08, F.S.;
   12         prohibiting discrimination on the basis of pregnancy
   13         in places of public accommodation; amending s. 760.10,
   14         F.S.; prohibiting employment discrimination on the
   15         basis of pregnancy; prohibiting discrimination on the
   16         basis of pregnancy by labor organizations, joint
   17         labor-management committees, and employment agencies;
   18         prohibiting discrimination on the basis of pregnancy
   19         in occupational licensing, certification, and
   20         membership organizations; providing an exception to
   21         unlawful employment practices based on pregnancy;
   22         reenacting s. 760.11(1), F.S., relating to
   23         administrative and civil remedies for violations of
   24         the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992, to incorporate
   25         the amendments made to s. 760.10(5), F.S., in a
   26         reference thereto; providing an effective date.
   27          
   28  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   29  
   30         Section 1. Section 509.092, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   31  read:
   32         509.092 Public lodging establishments and public food
   33  service establishments; rights as private enterprises.—Public
   34  lodging establishments and public food service establishments
   35  are private enterprises, and the operator has the right to
   36  refuse accommodations or service to any person who is
   37  objectionable or undesirable to the operator, but such refusal
   38  may not be based upon race, creed, color, sex, pregnancy,
   39  physical disability, or national origin. A person aggrieved by a
   40  violation of this section or a violation of a rule adopted under
   41  this section has a right of action pursuant to s. 760.11.
   42         Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 760.01, Florida
   43  Statutes, is amended to read:
   44         760.01 Purposes; construction; title.—
   45         (2) The general purposes of the Florida Civil Rights Act of
   46  1992 are to secure for all individuals within the state freedom
   47  from discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex,
   48  pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, or marital status and
   49  thereby to protect their interest in personal dignity, to make
   50  available to the state their full productive capacities, to
   51  secure the state against domestic strife and unrest, to preserve
   52  the public safety, health, and general welfare, and to promote
   53  the interests, rights, and privileges of individuals within the
   54  state.
   55         Section 3. Section 760.05, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   56  read:
   57         760.05 Functions of the commission.—The commission shall
   58  promote and encourage fair treatment and equal opportunity for
   59  all persons regardless of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy,
   60  national origin, age, handicap, or marital status and mutual
   61  understanding and respect among all members of all economic,
   62  social, racial, religious, and ethnic groups; and shall endeavor
   63  to eliminate discrimination against, and antagonism between,
   64  religious, racial, and ethnic groups and their members.
   65         Section 4. Section 760.07, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   66  read:
   67         760.07 Remedies for unlawful discrimination.—Any violation
   68  of any Florida statute making unlawful discrimination because of
   69  race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy, national origin, age,
   70  handicap, or marital status in the areas of education,
   71  employment, housing, or public accommodations gives rise to a
   72  cause of action for all relief and damages described in s.
   73  760.11(5), unless greater damages are expressly provided for. If
   74  the statute prohibiting unlawful discrimination provides an
   75  administrative remedy, the action for equitable relief and
   76  damages provided for in this section may be initiated only after
   77  the plaintiff has exhausted his or her administrative remedy.
   78  The term “public accommodations” does not include lodge halls or
   79  other similar facilities of private organizations which are made
   80  available for public use occasionally or periodically. The right
   81  to trial by jury is preserved in any case in which the plaintiff
   82  is seeking actual or punitive damages.
   83         Section 5. Section 760.08, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   84  read:
   85         760.08 Discrimination in places of public accommodation.
   86  All persons are shall be entitled to the full and equal
   87  enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges,
   88  advantages, and accommodations of any place of public
   89  accommodation, as defined in this chapter, without
   90  discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color,
   91  national origin, sex, pregnancy, handicap, familial status, or
   92  religion.
   93         Section 6. Subsections (1) and (2), paragraphs (a) and (b)
   94  of subsection (3), subsections (4) through (6), and paragraph
   95  (a) of subsection (8) of section 760.10, Florida Statutes, are
   96  amended to read:
   97         760.10 Unlawful employment practices.—
   98         (1) It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer:
   99         (a) To discharge or to fail or refuse to hire any
  100  individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual
  101  with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges
  102  of employment, because of such individual’s race, color,
  103  religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, or
  104  marital status.
  105         (b) To limit, segregate, or classify employees or
  106  applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend
  107  to deprive any individual of employment opportunities, or
  108  adversely affect any individual’s status as an employee, because
  109  of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy,
  110  national origin, age, handicap, or marital status.
  111         (2) It is an unlawful employment practice for an employment
  112  agency to fail or refuse to refer for employment, or otherwise
  113  to discriminate against, any individual because of race, color,
  114  religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, or
  115  marital status or to classify or refer for employment any
  116  individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex,
  117  pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, or marital status.
  118         (3) It is an unlawful employment practice for a labor
  119  organization:
  120         (a) To exclude or to expel from its membership, or
  121  otherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of
  122  race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age,
  123  handicap, or marital status.
  124         (b) To limit, segregate, or classify its membership or
  125  applicants for membership, or to classify or fail or refuse to
  126  refer for employment any individual, in any way that which would
  127  deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment
  128  opportunities, or adversely affect any individual’s status as an
  129  employee or as an applicant for employment, because of such
  130  individual’s race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national
  131  origin, age, handicap, or marital status.
  132         (4) It is an unlawful employment practice for any employer,
  133  labor organization, or joint labor-management committee
  134  controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining,
  135  including on-the-job training programs, to discriminate against
  136  any individual because of race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy,
  137  national origin, age, handicap, or marital status in admission
  138  to, or employment in, any program established to provide
  139  apprenticeship or other training.
  140         (5) Whenever, in order to engage in a profession,
  141  occupation, or trade, it is required that a person receive a
  142  license, certification, or other credential, become a member or
  143  an associate of any club, association, or other organization, or
  144  pass any examination, it is an unlawful employment practice for
  145  any person to discriminate against any other person seeking such
  146  license, certification, or other credential, seeking to become a
  147  member or associate of such club, association, or other
  148  organization, or seeking to take or pass such examination,
  149  because of such other person’s race, color, religion, sex,
  150  pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, or marital status.
  151         (6) It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer,
  152  labor organization, employment agency, or joint labor-management
  153  committee to print, or cause to be printed or published, any
  154  notice or advertisement relating to employment, membership,
  155  classification, referral for employment, or apprenticeship or
  156  other training, indicating any preference, limitation,
  157  specification, or discrimination, based on race, color,
  158  religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, absence of
  159  handicap, or marital status.
  160         (8) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, it
  161  is not an unlawful employment practice under ss. 760.01-760.10
  162  for an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint
  163  labor-management committee to:
  164         (a) Take or fail to take any action on the basis of
  165  religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, or
  166  marital status in those certain instances in which religion,
  167  sex, condition of pregnancy, national origin, age, absence of a
  168  particular handicap, or marital status is a bona fide
  169  occupational qualification reasonably necessary for the
  170  performance of the particular employment to which such action or
  171  inaction is related.
  172         Section 7. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
  173  made by this act to section 760.10(5), Florida Statutes, in a
  174  reference thereto, subsection (1) of section 760.11, Florida
  175  Statutes, is reenacted to read:
  176         760.11 Administrative and civil remedies; construction.—
  177         (1) Any person aggrieved by a violation of ss. 760.01
  178  760.10 may file a complaint with the commission within 365 days
  179  of the alleged violation, naming the employer, employment
  180  agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee,
  181  or, in the case of an alleged violation of s. 760.10(5), the
  182  person responsible for the violation and describing the
  183  violation. Any person aggrieved by a violation of s. 509.092 may
  184  file a complaint with the commission within 365 days of the
  185  alleged violation naming the person responsible for the
  186  violation and describing the violation. The commission, a
  187  commissioner, or the Attorney General may in like manner file
  188  such a complaint. On the same day the complaint is filed with
  189  the commission, the commission shall clearly stamp on the face
  190  of the complaint the date the complaint was filed with the
  191  commission. In lieu of filing the complaint with the commission,
  192  a complaint under this section may be filed with the federal
  193  Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or with any unit of
  194  government of the state which is a fair-employment-practice
  195  agency under 29 C.F.R. ss. 1601.70-1601.80. If the date the
  196  complaint is filed is clearly stamped on the face of the
  197  complaint, that date is the date of filing. The date the
  198  complaint is filed with the commission for purposes of this
  199  section is the earliest date of filing with the Equal Employment
  200  Opportunity Commission, the fair-employment-practice agency, or
  201  the commission. The complaint shall contain a short and plain
  202  statement of the facts describing the violation and the relief
  203  sought. The commission may require additional information to be
  204  in the complaint. The commission, within 5 days of the complaint
  205  being filed, shall by registered mail send a copy of the
  206  complaint to the person who allegedly committed the violation.
  207  The person who allegedly committed the violation may file an
  208  answer to the complaint within 25 days of the date the complaint
  209  was filed with the commission. Any answer filed shall be mailed
  210  to the aggrieved person by the person filing the answer. Both
  211  the complaint and the answer shall be verified.
  212         Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.