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106th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1276
To prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 24, 1999
Mr. Jeffords (for himself, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Chafee, Mr.
Daschle, Mr. Specter, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Harkin, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Bingaman,
Mr. Wellstone, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Reed, Mr. Leahy, Ms. Landrieu, Mr.
Reid, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Inouye, Mr. Lautenberg,
Mr. Robb, Mr. Cleland, Mr. Moynihan, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Akaka, Mr.
Durbin, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Torricelli, Mr. Kerrey, Mr. Levin, Mr.
Feingold, Mr. Bryan, Mrs. Feinstein, and Mr. Kohl) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Employment Non-Discrimination Act of
1999''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to provide a comprehensive Federal prohibition of
employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation;
(2) to provide meaningful and effective remedies for
employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation;
and
(3) to invoke congressional powers, including the powers to
enforce the 14th amendment to the Constitution and to regulate
interstate commerce, in order to prohibit employment
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission.
(2) Covered entity.--The term ``covered entity'' means an
employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint
labor-management committee.
(3) Employer.--The term ``employer'' means--
(A) a person engaged in an industry affecting
commerce (as defined in section 701(h) of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e(h))) who has 15 or
more employees (as defined in section 701(f) of such
Act (42 U.S.C. 2000e(f)) for each working day in each
of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or
preceding calendar year, and any agent of such a
person, but does not include a bona fide private
membership club (other than a labor organization) that
is exempt from taxation under section 501(c) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
(B) an employing authority to which section
302(a)(1) of the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991
(2 U.S.C. 1202(a)(1)) applies;
(C) an employing office, as defined in section 101
of the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2
U.S.C. 1301) or section 401 of title 3, United States
Code; or
(D) an entity to which section 717(a) of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e-16(a)) applies.
(4) Employment agency.--The term ``employment agency'' has
the meaning given the term in section 701(c) of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e(c)).
(5) Employment or an employment opportunity.--Except as
provided in section 10(a)(1), the term ``employment or an
employment opportunity'' includes job application procedures,
referral for employment, hiring, advancement, discharge,
compensation, job training, a term, condition, or privilege of
union membership, or any other term, condition, or privilege of
employment, but does not include the service of a volunteer for
which the volunteer receives no compensation.
(6) Labor organization.--The term ``labor organization''
has the meaning given the term in section 701(d) of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e(d)).
(7) Person.--The term ``person'' has the meaning given the
term in section 701(a) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42
U.S.C. 2000e(a)).
(8) Religious organization.--The term ``religious
organization'' means--
(A) a religious corporation, association, or
society; or
(B) a school, college, university, or other
educational institution or institution of learning,
if--
(i) the institution is in whole or
substantial part controlled, managed, owned, or
supported by a religion, religious corporation, association, or
society; or
(ii) the curriculum of the institution is
directed toward the propagation of a religion.
(9) Sexual orientation.--The term ``sexual orientation''
means homosexuality, bisexuality, or heterosexuality, whether
the orientation is real or perceived.
(10) State.--The term ``State'' has the meaning given the
term in section 701(i) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42
U.S.C. 2000e(i)).
SEC. 4. DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITED.
(a) Employer Practices.--It shall be an unlawful employment
practice for an employer--
(1) to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any
individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual
with respect to the compensation, terms, conditions, or
privileges of employment of the individual, because of such
individual's sexual orientation; or
(2) to limit, segregate, or classify the employees or
applicants for employment of the employer in any way that would
deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment
opportunities or otherwise adversely affect the status of the
individual as an employee, because of such individual's sexual
orientation.
(b) Employment Agency Practices.--It shall be an unlawful
employment practice for an employment agency to fail or refuse to refer
for employment, or otherwise to discriminate against, any individual
because of the sexual orientation of the individual or to classify or
refer for employment any individual on the basis of the sexual
orientation of the individual.
(c) Labor Organization Practices.--It shall be an unlawful
employment practice for a labor organization--
(1) to exclude or to expel from its membership, or
otherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of
the sexual orientation of the individual;
(2) to limit, segregate, or classify its membership or
applicants for membership, or to classify or fail or refuse to
refer for employment any individual, in any way that would
deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment
opportunities, or would limit such employment opportunities or
otherwise adversely affect the status of the individual as an
employee or as an applicant for employment, because of such
individual's sexual orientation; or
(3) to cause or attempt to cause an employer to
discriminate against an individual in violation of this
section.
(d) Training Programs.--It shall be an unlawful employment practice
for any employer, labor organization, or joint labor-management
committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining,
including on-the-job training programs, to discriminate against any
individual because of the sexual orientation of the individual in
admission to, or employment in, any program established to provide
apprenticeship or other training.
(e) Association.--An unlawful employment practice described in any
of subsections (a) through (d) shall be considered to include an action
described in that subsection, taken against an individual based on the
sexual orientation of a person with whom the individual associates or
has associated.
(f) Disparate Impact.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this
Act, the fact that an employment practice has a disparate impact, as
the term ``disparate impact'' is used in section 703(k) of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(k)), on the basis of sexual
orientation does not establish a prima facie violation of this Act.
SEC. 5. RETALIATION AND COERCION PROHIBITED.
(a) Retaliation.--A covered entity shall not discriminate against
an individual because such individual opposed any act or practice
prohibited by this Act or because such individual made a charge,
assisted, testified, or participated in any manner in an investigation,
proceeding, or hearing under this Act.
(b) Coercion.--A person shall not coerce, intimidate, threaten, or
interfere with any individual in the exercise or enjoyment of, or on
account of such individual's having exercised, enjoyed, or assisted in
or encouraged the exercise or enjoyment of, any right granted or
protected by this Act.
SEC. 6. BENEFITS.
This Act does not apply to the provision of employee benefits to an
individual for the benefit of the domestic partner of such individual.
SEC. 7. COLLECTION OF STATISTICS PROHIBITED.
The Commission shall not collect statistics on sexual orientation
from covered entities, or compel the collection of such statistics by
covered entities.
SEC. 8. QUOTAS AND PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT PROHIBITED.
(a) Quotas.--A covered entity shall not adopt or implement a quota
on the basis of sexual orientation.
(b) Preferential Treatment.--A covered entity shall not give
preferential treatment to an individual on the basis of sexual
orientation.
(c) Orders and Consent Decrees.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of this Act, an order or consent decree entered for a
violation of this Act may not include a quota, or preferential
treatment to an individual, based on sexual orientation.
SEC. 9. RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (b), this Act
shall not apply to a religious organization.
(b) Unrelated Business Taxable Income.--This Act shall apply to
employment or an employment opportunity for an employment position of a
covered entity that is a religious organization if the duties of the
position pertain solely to activities of the organization that generate
unrelated business taxable income subject to taxation under section
511(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
SEC. 10. NONAPPLICATION TO MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES; VETERANS'
PREFERENCES.
(a) Armed Forces.--
(1) Employment or an employment opportunity.--In this Act,
the term ``employment or an employment opportunity'' does not
apply to the relationship between the United States and members
of the Armed Forces.
(2) Armed forces.--In paragraph (1), the term ``Armed
Forces'' means the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and
Coast Guard.
(b) Veterans' Preferences.--This Act does not repeal or modify any
Federal, State, territorial, or local law creating a special right or
preference concerning employment or an employment opportunity for a
veteran.
SEC. 11. CONSTRUCTION.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit a covered entity
from enforcing rules regarding nonprivate sexual conduct, if the rules
of conduct are designed for, and uniformly applied to, all individuals
regardless of sexual orientation.
SEC. 12. ENFORCEMENT.
(a) Enforcement Powers.--With respect to the administration and
enforcement of this Act in the case of a claim alleged by an individual
for a violation of this Act--
(1) the Commission shall have the same powers as the
Commission has to administer and enforce--
(A) title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42
U.S.C. 2000e et seq.); or
(B) sections 302 and 304 of the Government Employee
Rights Act of 1991 (2 U.S.C. 1202 and 1220);
in the case of a claim alleged by such individual for a
violation of such title, or of section 302(a)(1) of the
Government Employee Rights Act of 1991 (2 U.S.C. 1202(a)(1)),
respectively;
(2) the Librarian of Congress shall have the same powers as
the Librarian of Congress has to administer and enforce title
VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.)
in the case of a claim alleged by such individual for a
violation of such title;
(3) the Board (as defined in section 101 of the
Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301)) shall
have the same powers as the Board has to administer and enforce
the Congressional Accountability Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1301 et
seq.) in the case of a claim alleged by such individual for a
violation of section 201(a)(1) of such Act (2 U.S.C.
1311(a)(1));
(4) the Attorney General shall have the same powers as the
Attorney General has to administer and enforce--
(A) title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42
U.S.C. 2000e et seq.); or
(B) sections 302 and 304 of the Government Employee
Rights Act of 1991 (2 U.S.C. 1202 and 1220);
in the case of a claim alleged by such individual for a
violation of such title, or of section 302(a)(1) of the
Government Employee Rights Act of 1991 (2 U.S.C. 1202(a)(1)),
respectively;
(5) the President, the Commission, and the Merit Systems
Protection Board shall have the same powers as the President,
the Commission, and the Board, respectively, have to administer
and enforce chapter 5 of title 3, United States Code, in the
case of a claim alleged by such individual for a violation of
section 411 of such title;
(6) a court of the United States shall have the same
jurisdiction and powers as the court has to enforce--
(A) title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42
U.S.C. 2000e et seq.) in the case of a claim alleged by
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