Bill Text: VA HB1344 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Employee protection; prohibited retaliation, prohibited nondisclosure & nondisparagement provisions.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-02-08 - Continued to 2025 in Labor and Commerce by voice vote [HB1344 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-HB1344-Introduced.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§40.1-27.3 and 40.1-28.01 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted and that the Code of Virginia is amended by adding a section numbered 40.1-28.02 as follows:
§40.1-27.3. Retaliatory action against employee prohibited.
A. An employer shall not discharge, discipline, threaten, discriminate against, or penalize an employee, or take other retaliatory action regarding an employee's compensation, terms, conditions, location, or privileges of employment, because the employee:
1. Or a person acting on behalf of the employee in good faith reports a potential violation of any federal or state law or regulation to a supervisor, to a management or company official, or to any governmental official or body or law-enforcement official, including a report made in the ordinary course of such employee's job duties;
2. Is requested by a governmental body or law-enforcement official to participate in an investigation, hearing, or inquiry;
3. Refuses to engage in a criminal act that would subject the employee to criminal liability;
4. Refuses an employer's order to perform an action that
violates any federal or state law or regulation and the employee informs the
employer that the order is being refused for that reason; or
5. Provides information to or testifies before any governmental body or law-enforcement official conducting an investigation, hearing, judicial or administrative action, or inquiry into any alleged violation by the employer of federal or state law or regulation; or
6. Discloses or discusses conduct that the employee reasonably believes to be discrimination, including harassment, retaliation, a wage or hour violation, sexual assault, fraud against taxpayers, shareholders, the government, consumers, or other employees, or other conduct that is against a clear mandate of public policy.
B. This section does not:
1. Authorize an employee to make a disclosure of data otherwise protected by law or any legal privilege;
2. Permit an employee to make statements or disclosures
knowing that they are false or that they are in reckless disregard of the
truth; or
3. Permit disclosures that would violate federal or state law; or
4. Permit disclosures that would diminish or impair the rights of any person to the continued protection of confidentiality of communications provided by common law, unless such disclosures relate to an employee's experience of unlawful workplace conduct as protected under § 40.1-28.01.
C. A person An employee who alleges a
violation of this section may bring a civil action in a court of competent
jurisdiction within one year of the employer's prohibited retaliatory action. Such employee shall prevail upon a showing that
the protected activity of such employee was a contributing factor in the
employer's decision to take retaliatory action. The court
may order as a remedy to the employee (i) an injunction to restrain continued
violation of this section, (ii) the reinstatement of the employee to the same
position held before the retaliatory action or to an equivalent position, and
(iii) compensation for lost wages, benefits, and other remuneration, together
with interest thereon, as well as other compensatory damages,
and punitive damages. The court shall award reasonable
attorney fees and costs to a prevailing
plaintiff employee.
§40.1-28.01. Nondisclosure or confidentiality agreement; provisions regarding discrimination and sexual assault or sexual harassment; condition of employment.
A. For the purposes of this section, "employee" includes a prospective, current, or former employee and an independent contractor.
B. No
employer shall require an employee or a prospective employee to execute or
renew any agreement that includes a
provision in a nondisclosure or confidentiality agreement,
including any provision relating to nondisparagement, that
has the purpose or effect of concealing the details relating
to a claim of sexual assault pursuant to §18.2-61, 18.2-67.1, 18.2-67.3, or
18.2-67.4 or a claim of
illegal activity or activity an employee believes to be unlawful, including
unlawful sexual harassment as defined in §30-129.4 as a condition of employment, discrimination as described in the
Virginia Human Rights Act (§2.2-3900 et
seq.), wage theft as described in §
40.1-28.7:7 or 40.1-29 or the Virginia Minimum Wage Act (§40.1-28.8 et seq.),
and protected whistleblowing as described in §40.1-27.3.
Any such provision is against public policy and is void and unenforceable.
B.
This C. Nothing
in this section shall be construed to (i) prohibit the inclusion, at
the request of an employee, of a provision in any
agreement involving a release of claims that
shields the identity of such employee and all facts
that could lead to the discovery of such employee's identity or (ii)
prohibit an employer or employee from protecting trade secrets, proprietary
information, or any other confidential information
immaterial to unlawful conduct.
D. The provisions of this section shall in no way limit other grounds that exist at law or in equity for the unenforceability of any such agreement or any provision of such agreement.
E. An employer that violates the provisions of this section shall be liable in a civil cause of action for actual damages or statutory damages of $10,000, whichever is greater, as well as reasonable attorney fees and costs.
§40.1-28.02. Employment agreements and settlement agreements; required disclaimer.
In any settlement agreement between an employer and an employee and in any employment agreement executed between an employer and an employee, such employer shall include a written disclaimer stating that nothing in the agreement prohibits an employee from disclosing or discussing conduct that such employee reasonably believes under state, federal, or common law to be unlawful, including unlawful sexual harassment as defined in §30-129.4, discrimination as described in the Virginia Human Rights Act (§2.2-3900 et seq.), wage theft as described in § 40.1-28.7:7 or 40.1-29 or the Virginia Minimum Wage Act (§40.1-28.8 et seq.), and protected whistleblowing as described in §40.1-27.3.
2. That the provisions of this act shall apply to all contracts and agreements described in §40.1-28.01 of the Code of Virginia, as amended by this act, that are entered into, renewed, modified, or amended on or after July 1, 2024.
