S.1391 - A bill to amend the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 and other laws to clarify appropriate standards for Federal employment discrimination and retaliation claims, and for other purposes.113th Congress (2013-2014)
Bill
| Sponsor: | Sen. Harkin, Tom [D-IA] (Introduced 07/30/2013) |
|---|---|
| Committees: | Senate - Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions |
| Latest Action: | 07/30/2013 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. |
Tracker:
This bill has the status Introduced
Here are the steps for Status of Legislation:
- Introduced
- Passed Senate
- Passed House
- To President
- Became Law
Subject — Policy Area:
- Labor and Employment
- View subjects
Text: S.1391 — 113th Congress (2013-2014)
There is one version of the bill.
Shown Here:
Introduced in Senate (07/30/2013)
Formatting necessary for an accurate reading of this legislative text may be shown by tags (e.g., <DELETED> or <BOLD>) or may be missing from this TXT display. For complete and accurate display of this text, see the PDF or HTML/XML.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office]
[S. 1391 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1391
To amend the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 and other
laws to clarify appropriate standards for Federal employment
discrimination and retaliation claims, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 30, 2013
Mr. Harkin (for himself, Mr. Grassley, and Mr. Leahy) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 and other
laws to clarify appropriate standards for Federal employment
discrimination and retaliation claims, and for other purposes.
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 ``Protecting Older Workers Against
Discrimination Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) In enacting section 107 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991
(adding section 703(m) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964),
Congress reaffirmed its understanding that unlawful
discrimination is often difficult to detect and prove because
discriminators do not usually admit their discrimination and
often try to conceal their true motives. Section 703(m) of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 expressly approved so-called ``mixed
motive'' claims, providing that an unlawful employment practice
is established when a protected characteristic was a motivating
factor for any employment practice, even though other factors
also motivated the practice.
(2) Congress enacted amendments to other civil rights
statutes, including the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of
1967 (referred to in this section as the ``ADEA''), the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973, but Congress did not expressly amend those
statutes to address mixed motive discrimination.
(3) In the case of Gross v. FBL Financial Services, Inc.,
557 U.S. 167 (2009), the Supreme Court held that, because
Congress did not expressly amend the ADEA to address mixed
motive claims, such claims were unavailable under the ADEA, and
instead the complainant bears the burden of proving that a
protected characteristic or protected activity was the ``but
for'' cause of an unlawful employment practice. This decision
has significantly narrowed the scope of protections afforded by
the statutes that were not expressly amended in 1991 to address
mixed motive claims.
(b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to clarify congressional intent that mixed motive
claims shall be available, and that a complaining party need
not prove that a protected characteristic or protected activity
was the ``but for'' cause of an unlawful employment practice,
under the ADEA and similar civil rights provisions;
(2) to reject the Supreme Court's reasoning in the Gross
decision that Congress' failure to amend any statute other than
title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (with respect to
discrimination claims), in enacting section 107 of the Civil
Rights Act of 1991, suggests that Congress intended to disallow
mixed motive claims under other statutes; and
(3) to clarify that complaining parties--
(A) may rely on any type or form of admissible
evidence to establish their claims of an unlawful
employment practice;
(B) are not required to demonstrate that the
protected characteristic or activity was the sole cause
of the employment practice; and
(C) may demonstrate an unlawful employment practice
through any available method of proof or analytical
framework.
SEC. 3. STANDARDS OF PROOF.
(a) Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967.--
(1) Clarifying prohibition against impermissible
consideration of age in employment practices.--Section 4 of the
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 623) is
amended by inserting after subsection (f) the following:
``(g)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, an unlawful
practice is established under this Act when the complaining party
demonstrates that age or an activity protected by subsection (d) was a
motivating factor for any practice, even though other factors also
motivated the practice.
``(2) In establishing an unlawful practice under this Act,
including under paragraph (1) or by any other method of proof, a
complaining party--
``(A) may rely on any type or form of admissible evidence
and need only produce evidence sufficient for a reasonable
trier of fact to find that an unlawful practice occurred under
this Act; and
``(B) shall not be required to demonstrate that age or an
activity protected by subsection (d) was the sole cause of a
practice.''.
(2) Remedies.--Section 7 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 626) is
amended--
(A) in subsection (b)--
(i) in the first sentence, by striking
``The'' and inserting ``(1) The'';
(ii) in the third sentence, by striking
``Amounts'' and inserting the following:
``(2) Amounts'';
(iii) in the fifth sentence, by striking
``Before'' and inserting the following:
``(4) Before''; and
(iv) by inserting before paragraph (4), as
designated by clause (iii) of this
subparagraph, the following:
``(3) On a claim in which an individual demonstrates that age was a
motivating factor for any employment practice, under section 4(g)(1),
and a respondent demonstrates that the respondent would have taken the
same action in the absence of the impermissible motivating factor, the
court--
``(A) may grant declaratory relief, injunctive relief
(except as provided in subparagraph (B)), and attorney's fees
and costs demonstrated to be directly attributable only to the
pursuit of a claim under section 4(g)(1); and
``(B) shall not award damages or issue an order requiring
any admission, reinstatement, hiring, promotion, or payment.'';
and
(B) in subsection (c)(1), by striking ``Any'' and
inserting ``Subject to subsection (b)(3), any''.
(3) Definitions.--Section 11 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 630) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(m) The term `demonstrates' means meets the burdens of production
and persuasion.''.
(4) Federal employees.--Section 15 of such Act (29 U.S.C.
633a) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(h) Sections 4(g) and 7(b)(3) shall apply to mixed motive claims
(involving practices described in section 4(g)(1)) under this
section.''.
(b) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.--
(1) Clarifying prohibition against impermissible
consideration of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin
in employment practices.--Section 703 of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e-2) is amended by striking subsection
(m) and inserting the following:
``(m) Except as otherwise provided in this title, an unlawful
employment practice is established under this title when the
complaining party demonstrates that race, color, religion, sex, or
national origin or an activity protected by section 704(a) was a
motivating factor for any employment practice, even though other
factors also motivated the practice.''.
(2) Federal employees.--Section 717 of such Act (42 U.S.C.
2000e-16) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(g) Sections 703(m) and 706(g)(2)(B) shall apply to mixed motive
cases (involving practices described in section 703(m)) under this
section.''.
(c) Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990.--
(1) Definitions.--Section 101 of the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12111) is amended by adding
at the end the following:
``(11) Demonstrates.--The term `demonstrates' means meets
the burdens of production and persuasion.''.
(2) Clarifying prohibition against impermissible
consideration of disability in employment practices.--Section
102 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 12112) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``(e) Proof.--
``(1) Establishment.--Except as otherwise provided in this
Act, a discriminatory practice is established under this Act
when the complaining party demonstrates that disability or an
activity protected by subsection (a) or (b) of section 503 was
a motivating factor for any employment practice, even though
other factors also motivated the practice.
``(2) Demonstration.--In establishing a discriminatory
practice under paragraph (1) or by any other method of proof, a
complaining party--
``(A) may rely on any type or form of admissible
evidence and need only produce evidence sufficient for
a reasonable trier of fact to find that a
discriminatory practice occurred under this Act; and
``(B) shall not be required to demonstrate that
disability or an activity protected by subsection (a)
or (b) of section 503 was the sole cause of an
employment practice.''.
(3) Certain antiretaliation claims.--Section 503(c) of such
Act (42 U.S.C. 12203(c)) is amended--
(A) by striking ``The remedies'' and inserting the
following:
``(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the
remedies''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) Certain antiretaliation claims.--Section 107(c) shall
apply to claims under section 102(e)(1) with respect to title
I.''.
(4) Remedies.--Section 107 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 12117) is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``(c) Discriminatory Motivating Factor.--On a claim in which an
individual demonstrates that disability was a motivating factor for any
employment practice, under section 102(e)(1), and a respondent
demonstrates that the respondent would have taken the same action in
the absence of the impermissible motivating factor, the court--
``(1) may grant declaratory relief, injunctive relief
(except as provided in paragraph (2)), and attorney's fees and
costs demonstrated to be directly attributable only to the
pursuit of a claim under section 102(e)(1); and
``(2) shall not award damages or issue an order requiring
any admission, reinstatement, hiring, promotion, or payment.''.
(d) Rehabilitation Act of 1973.--
(1) In general.--Sections 501(g), 503(d), and 504(d) of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 791(g), 793(d), and
794(d)), are each amended by adding after the words ``title I
of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12111
et seq.)'' the following: ``, including the standards of
causation or methods of proof applied under section 102(e) of
that Act (42 U.S.C. 12112(e)),''.
(2) Federal employees.--The amendment made by paragraph (1)
to section 501(g) shall be construed to apply to all employees
covered by section 501.
SEC. 4. APPLICATION.
This Act, and the amendments made by this Act, shall apply to all
claims pending on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
<all>