By Duncan S.B. No. 837
75R3427 PB-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to discrimination against an employee based on a claim for
1-3 workers' compensation benefits and to remedies in an action
1-4 alleging that discrimination.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 451.001, Labor Code, is amended to read
1-7 as follows:
1-8 Sec. 451.001. DISCRIMINATION AGAINST EMPLOYEES PROHIBITED.
1-9 A person may not discharge [or in any other manner discriminate
1-10 against] an employee because the employee has:
1-11 (1) filed a workers' compensation claim in good faith;
1-12 (2) hired a lawyer to represent the employee in a
1-13 claim;
1-14 (3) instituted or caused to be instituted in good
1-15 faith a proceeding under Subtitle A; or
1-16 (4) testified or is about to testify in a proceeding
1-17 under Subtitle A.
1-18 SECTION 2. Section 451.002, Labor Code, is amended by
1-19 amending Subsections (a) and (c) and by adding Subsection (d) to
1-20 read as follows:
1-21 (a) A person who violates Section 451.001 is liable only for
1-22 economic [reasonable] damages incurred by the employee as a result
1-23 of the violation.
1-24 (c) The burden of proof in a proceeding under this section
2-1 is on the employee to establish that an action of the employee
2-2 protected under Section 451.001 was the substantial cause of the
2-3 employee's discharge from the position of employment.
2-4 (d) For purposes of this section, "economic damages" means
2-5 damages for pecuniary loss, including damages for loss of or damage
2-6 to property and damages for lost wages, loss of earning capacity,
2-7 expenses for medical care, and burial expenses. The term does not
2-8 include damages for pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss
2-9 associated with disfigurement, or loss of companionship or
2-10 consortium.
2-11 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
2-12 applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the
2-13 effective date of this Act. An action that accrues before the
2-14 effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when
2-15 the action accrued, and the former law is continued in effect for
2-16 that purpose.
2-17 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-18 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-19 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-20 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-21 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.