Bill Text: IA SF250 | 2021-2022 | 89th General Assembly | Introduced

Iowa Senate Bill 250 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: A bill for an act creating the restroom emergency access Act, and providing civil penalties.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-02-09 - Subcommittee: Costello, Green, and Jochum. S.J. 299. [SF250 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2021-SF250-Introduced.html

Senate File 250 - Introduced SENATE FILE 250 BY ZAUN A BILL FOR An Act creating the restroom emergency access Act, and 1 providing civil penalties. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 1054XS (1) 89 pf/rh

S.F. 250 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 137E.1 Short title. 1 This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the “Restroom 2 Emergency Access Act” . 3 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 137E.2 Definitions. 4 As used in this chapter unless the context otherwise 5 requires: 6 1. “Consumer” means an individual who is lawfully on the 7 premises of a retail establishment. 8 2. “Department” means the department of public health. 9 3. “Eligible medical condition” means all of the following: 10 a. Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, or any other 11 inflammatory bowel disease. 12 b. Irritable bowel syndrome. 13 c. Any condition requiring the use of an ostomy device. 14 d. Any other medical condition that requires immediate 15 access to a restroom facility. 16 4. “Employee restroom facility” means a restroom that is 17 intended only for use by employees of a retail establishment 18 and not for use by the public. 19 5. “Health care professional” means a person licensed under 20 chapter 148 to practice medicine and surgery or osteopathic 21 medicine and surgery, a registered nurse or an advanced 22 registered nurse practitioner licensed under chapter 152 or an 23 advanced practice registered nurse licensed under chapter 152E, 24 or a physician assistant licensed to practice under chapter 25 148C. 26 6. “Ostomy device” means a medical device that creates an 27 artificial passage for the elimination of body waste. 28 7. “Restroom” means a room containing a toilet. 29 8. “Retail establishment” means a place of business 30 regularly open to the public in which the retail sale of 31 goods or services to the ultimate consumer is the principal 32 business conducted, and includes professional corporations 33 and other entities where legal, medical, dental, engineering, 34 architectural, or other professional services are delivered. 35 -1- LSB 1054XS (1) 89 pf/rh 1/ 7

S.F. 250 “Retail establishment” does not include a residence unless 1 the residence is regularly open to the public as a place of 2 business. 3 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 137E.3 Retail establishment —— 4 consumer emergency access to employee restroom facilities. 5 1. A retail establishment that provides an employee 6 restroom facility for its employees and does not normally make 7 a restroom available to the public shall allow a consumer to 8 have emergency access to the employee restroom facility during 9 normal business hours if the employee restroom facility is 10 maintained in a reasonably safe manner and all of the following 11 conditions are met: 12 a. The consumer requesting emergency access to the employee 13 restroom facility suffers from an eligible medical condition 14 and provides written documentation, as approved by the 15 department, of the consumer’s eligible medical condition to the 16 retail establishment. 17 b. A public restroom is not immediately accessible to the 18 consumer. 19 c. A sufficient number of employees of the retail 20 establishment are working at the time the consumer requests 21 emergency access to the employee restroom facility such that 22 the consumer accessing the employee restroom facility does 23 not cause the retail establishment to cease or significantly 24 curtail normal business operations. 25 d. The employee restroom facility is located in an area of 26 the retail establishment that does not present an obvious risk 27 to the health or safety of the consumer or an obvious security 28 risk to the retail establishment. For the purposes of this 29 paragraph: 30 (1) “Obvious risk to the health or safety of the consumer” 31 includes but is not limited to a situation where accessing the 32 employee restroom facility requires the consumer to traverse an 33 area where manufacturing or heavy equipment is in use, items 34 are stored on high shelving, adequate lighting is not present, 35 -2- LSB 1054XS (1) 89 pf/rh 2/ 7

S.F. 250 the flooring is wet or slippery, or hazardous materials are 1 used or stored. 2 (2) “Obvious security risk” includes exposing the consumer 3 to sensitive company documents, materials, or trade secrets. 4 2. This section shall not require a retail establishment 5 to make any physical changes or improvements to an employee 6 restroom facility. 7 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION . 137E.4 Liability. 8 1. If an act or omission of a retail establishment or an 9 employee of a retail establishment, in allowing a consumer who 10 claims to have an eligible medical condition to have emergency 11 access to the retail establishment’s employee restroom facility 12 as required by this chapter, results in an injury to or death 13 of the consumer or an individual other than an employee of 14 the retail establishment who is accompanying the consumer 15 in an area not usually accessible to the public, the retail 16 establishment and the employee are immune from civil liability 17 if the act or omission is not grossly negligent. 18 2. An employee restroom facility provided to consumers 19 solely to comply with this section shall not be considered a 20 public restroom for the purposes of laws or regulations that 21 generally govern facilities available to the public, but shall 22 instead be governed by the laws and regulations that otherwise 23 govern the restroom facility if it were not made available to a 24 consumer pursuant to this chapter. 25 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION . 137E.5 Written documentation of 26 eligible medical condition —— rules. 27 1. All of the following shall be accepted as written 28 documentation of a consumer’s eligible medical condition: 29 a. A copy of a statement signed by a consumer’s health care 30 professional that indicates the consumer has been formally 31 diagnosed with an eligible medical condition. 32 b. An identification card issued by a nationally recognized 33 health organization, approved by the department, that indicates 34 the consumer has been formally diagnosed with an eligible 35 -3- LSB 1054XS (1) 89 pf/rh 3/ 7

S.F. 250 medical condition. 1 2. The department shall develop a standard electronic form 2 that may be used by a health care professional to provide 3 the signed statement as described in subsection 1. The form 4 shall include a brief description of the consumer’s rights 5 under this chapter and shall be made available to the public 6 electronically. This subsection shall not be construed to 7 require the department to distribute printed versions of the 8 form. 9 3. The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A 10 to administer this chapter. 11 Sec. 6. NEW SECTION . 137E.6 Violations —— penalties. 12 1. A retail establishment or an employee of a retail 13 establishment that does not comply with this chapter or refuses 14 to provide a consumer emergency access to an employee restroom 15 facility as required by this chapter violates this chapter and 16 is subject to the penalties specified in this section. 17 2. a. For a first violation of this section, the city or 18 county attorney shall issue a warning letter to the retail 19 establishment and to any employee of the retail establishment 20 that denied emergency access to an employee restroom 21 facility in violation of this chapter, informing the retail 22 establishment and the employee of the retail establishment of 23 the requirements of this chapter. 24 b. A retail establishment or an employee of a retail 25 establishment that subsequently violates this chapter after 26 receiving the warning letter pursuant to subsection 1 is 27 subject to a civil penalty of two hundred dollars. 28 3. A person who forges, alters, improperly transfers, or 29 knowingly possesses and uses a forged or altered statement by a 30 health care professional or an identification card is subject 31 to a civil penalty of two hundred dollars. 32 EXPLANATION 33 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 34 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 35 -4- LSB 1054XS (1) 89 pf/rh 4/ 7

S.F. 250 This bill provides for emergency access to an employee 1 restroom facility in retail establishments for individuals with 2 eligible medical conditions. 3 The bill creates a new Code chapter entitled the “Restroom 4 Emergency Access Act”. 5 The bill provides definitions for the purposes of the 6 new Code chapter, including “eligible medical condition”, 7 which includes Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, or any 8 other inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, 9 any condition requiring the use of an ostomy device, and any 10 other medical condition that requires immediate access to a 11 restroom facility; “employee restroom facility”, “health care 12 professional”, and “retail establishment”. 13 The bill requires a retail establishment that provides 14 an employee restroom facility for its employees and does 15 not normally make a restroom available to the public to 16 allow a consumer emergency access to the employee restroom 17 facility during normal business hours if the employee restroom 18 facility is maintained in a reasonably safe manner and certain 19 conditions are met. The conditions include that the consumer 20 requesting emergency access to the employee restroom facility 21 suffers from an eligible medical condition and provides written 22 documentation of the consumer’s condition; a public restroom is 23 not immediately accessible to the consumer; a sufficient number 24 of employees are working at the time the consumer requests 25 emergency access to the employee restroom facility; and the 26 employee restroom facility is located in an area of the retail 27 establishment that does not present an obvious risk to the 28 health or safety of the consumer or an obvious security risk to 29 the retail establishment. The bill does not require a retail 30 establishment to make any physical changes or improvements to 31 an employee restroom facility. The bill provides that if an 32 act or omission of a retail establishment or an employee of a 33 retail establishment, in allowing a consumer who claims to have 34 an eligible medical condition emergency access to the retail 35 -5- LSB 1054XS (1) 89 pf/rh 5/ 7

S.F. 250 establishment’s employee restroom facility as required by this 1 chapter, results in an injury to or death of the consumer or an 2 individual other than an employee of the retail establishment 3 who is accompanying the consumer in an area not usually 4 accessible to the public, the retail establishment and the 5 employee are immune from civil liability if the act or omission 6 is not grossly negligent. 7 An employee restroom facility provided to comply with the 8 bill is not to be considered a public restroom for the purposes 9 of laws or regulations that generally govern facilities 10 available to the public, but shall instead be governed by 11 the laws and regulations that otherwise govern the restroom 12 facility if it were not made available to a consumer under the 13 bill. 14 The bill provides for the types of written documentation 15 that are acceptable under the bill and directs the department 16 of public health (DPH) to develop a standard electronic form 17 that may be used by a health care professional to provide the 18 acceptable signed statement under the bill. The bill directs 19 DPH to adopt administrative rules to administer the bill. 20 Under the bill, a retail establishment or an employee of 21 a retail establishment that does not comply with the bill or 22 refuses to provide a consumer emergency access to an employee 23 restroom facility as required by the bill violates the Code 24 chapter. For a first violation, the city or county attorney 25 shall issue a warning letter to the retail establishment and 26 any employee of the retail establishment that denied emergency 27 access in violation of the Code chapter, informing the retail 28 establishment and the employee of the retail establishment 29 of the requirements of this Code chapter. For a second or 30 subsequent violation, the retail establishment or employee is 31 subject to a civil penalty of $200. The bill also provides 32 that a person who forges, alters, improperly transfers, or 33 knowingly possesses and uses a forged or altered statement by a 34 health care professional or an identification card is subject 35 -6- LSB 1054XS (1) 89 pf/rh 6/ 7