Bill Text: TX HB881 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the creation of a cause of action for an employee prohibited from or penalized for voting.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-02-19 - Referred to Elections [HB881 Detail]
Download: Texas-2013-HB881-Introduced.html
83R5723 ADM-F | ||
By: Turner of Tarrant | H.B. No. 881 |
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relating to the creation of a cause of action for an employee | ||
prohibited from or penalized for voting. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 276.004, Election Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsections (a), (c), and (d) and adding Subsection (e) to | ||
read as follows: | ||
(a) A person may not [ |
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to another person over whom the person has authority in the scope of | ||
employment, [ |
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(1) refuse [ |
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absent from work on election day for the purpose of attending the | ||
polls to vote; or | ||
(2) subject [ |
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subject the other person to a penalty for attending the polls on | ||
election day to vote. | ||
(c) In this section, "penalty" means a loss or reduction of | ||
wages or another benefit of employment, termination of employment, | ||
or other adverse personnel action. | ||
(d) A person who violates Subsection (a) commits an offense. | ||
An offense under this subsection [ |
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misdemeanor. | ||
(e) A person may bring suit in district court against the | ||
person's employer for violating this section. A person must bring | ||
suit on an action arising under this section not later than the | ||
first anniversary of the day the cause of action accrues. | ||
SECTION 2. Chapter 276, Election Code, is amended by adding | ||
Section 276.0041 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 276.0041. REMEDIES. (a) On finding that an employer | ||
violated Section 276.004, a court may award the complainant in a | ||
suit brought under Section 276.004(e): | ||
(1) compensatory damages, including back pay, front | ||
pay, and interest on back pay or front pay; | ||
(2) punitive damages to the extent provided by | ||
Subsection (b); | ||
(3) reasonable attorney's fees; and | ||
(4) additional equitable relief as may be appropriate, | ||
including reinstatement to employment. | ||
(b) A complainant may recover punitive damages against an | ||
employer, other than an employer that is a governmental entity, if | ||
the complainant demonstrates that the violation of Section 276.004 | ||
was committed with malice or with reckless indifference to the | ||
state-protected rights of an aggrieved individual. | ||
(c) The sum of the amount of compensatory damages awarded | ||
under this section for future pecuniary losses, emotional pain, | ||
suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of | ||
life, and other nonpecuniary losses and the amount of punitive | ||
damages awarded under this section may not exceed, for each | ||
complainant: | ||
(1) $50,000 in the case of an employer that has fewer | ||
than 101 employees; | ||
(2) $100,000 in the case of an employer that has more | ||
than 100 and fewer than 201 employees; | ||
(3) $200,000 in the case of an employer that has more | ||
than 200 and fewer than 501 employees; and | ||
(4) $300,000 in the case of an employer that has more | ||
than 500 employees. | ||
(d) For the purposes of Subsection (c), in determining the | ||
number of employees of an employer, the requisite number of | ||
employees must be employed by the employer for each of 20 or more | ||
calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year. | ||
(e) Interim earnings, workers' compensation benefits, and | ||
unemployment compensation benefits received operate to reduce the | ||
back pay otherwise allowable under this section. | ||
(f) Sovereign immunity to suit and from liability is waived | ||
to the extent of liability created under this section for a | ||
violation of Section 276.004, and an employee may sue a | ||
governmental entity for damages allowed under this section. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013. |