By: Reynolds (Senate Sponsor - Ellis) H.B. No. 2463

(In the Senate - Received from the House April 18, 2011; April 26, 2011, read first time and referred to Select Committee on Open Government; May 20, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 3, Nays 0; May 20, 2011, sent to printer.)

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2463 By: Davis

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to access to certain records regarding an employment discrimination claim.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 21.304, Labor Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 21.304. CONFIDENTIALITY OF RECORDS. An officer or employee of the commission may not disclose to the public information obtained by the commission under Section 21.204 except in compliance with Section 21.305 and as necessary to the conduct of a proceeding under this chapter.

SECTION 2. Section 21.305, Labor Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 21.305. ACCESS TO COMMISSION RECORDS. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (c), the [The] commission shall adopt rules allowing a party to a complaint filed under Section 21.201 reasonable access to commission records relating to the complaint.

(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), unless [Unless] the complaint is resolved through a voluntary settlement or conciliation, on the written request of a party the executive director shall allow the party access to the commission records:

(1) after the final action of the commission; or

(2) if a civil action relating to the complaint is filed in federal court alleging a violation of federal law.

(c) Notwithstanding Section 552.023, Government Code, the following information is not considered public information for the purposes of Chapter 552, Government Code, and may not be disclosed to a party to a complaint filed under Section 21.201:

(1) identifying information of persons other than the parties and witnesses to the complaint;

(2) identifying information about confidential witnesses, including any confidential statement given by the witness;

(3) sensitive medical information about the charging party or a witness to the complaint that is:

(A) provided by a person other than the person requesting the information; and

(B) not relevant to issues raised in the complaint, including information that identifies injuries, impairments, pregnancies, disabilities, or other medical conditions that are not obviously apparent or visible;

(4) identifying information about a person other than the charging party that is found in sensitive medical information regardless of whether the information is relevant to the complaint;

(5) nonsensitive medical information that is relevant to the complaint if the disclosure would result in an invasion of personal privacy, unless the information is generally known or has been previously reported to the public;

(6) identifying information about other respondents or employers not a party to the complaint;

(7) information relating to settlement offers or conciliation agreements received from one party that was not conveyed to the other and information contained in a separate alternative dispute resolution file prepared for mediation purposes; and

(8) identifying information about a person on whose behalf a complaint was filed if the person has requested that the person's identity as a complaining party remain confidential.

(d) In this section, "identifying information" has the meaning assigned by Section 32.51, Penal Code.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.

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