| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the creation of a cause of action for an employee |
|
|
prohibited from or penalized for voting. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 276.004, Election Code, is amended by |
|
|
amending Subsections (a), (c), and (d) and adding Subsection (e) to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(a) A person may not [commits an offense if], with respect |
|
|
to another person over whom the person has authority in the scope of |
|
|
employment, [the person] knowingly: |
|
|
(1) refuse [refuses] to permit the other person to be |
|
|
absent from work on election day for the purpose of attending the |
|
|
polls to vote; or |
|
|
(2) subject [subjects] or threaten [threatens] to |
|
|
subject the other person to a penalty for attending the polls on |
|
|
election day to vote. |
|
|
(c) In this section, "penalty" means a loss or reduction of |
|
|
wages or another benefit of employment, termination of employment, |
|
|
or other adverse personnel action. |
|
|
(d) A person who violates Subsection (a) commits an offense. |
|
|
An offense under this subsection [section] is a Class C |
|
|
misdemeanor. |
|
|
(e) A person may bring suit in district court against the |
|
|
person's employer for violating this section. A person must bring |
|
|
suit on an action arising under this section not later than the |
|
|
first anniversary of the day the cause of action accrues. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Chapter 276, Election Code, is amended by adding |
|
|
Section 276.0041 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 276.0041. REMEDIES. (a) On finding that an employer |
|
|
violated Section 276.004, a court may award the complainant in a |
|
|
suit brought under Section 276.004(e): |
|
|
(1) compensatory damages, including back pay, front |
|
|
pay, and interest on back pay or front pay; |
|
|
(2) punitive damages to the extent provided by |
|
|
Subsection (b); |
|
|
(3) reasonable attorney's fees; and |
|
|
(4) additional equitable relief as may be appropriate, |
|
|
including reinstatement to employment. |
|
|
(b) A complainant may recover punitive damages against an |
|
|
employer, other than an employer that is a governmental entity, if |
|
|
the complainant demonstrates that the violation of Section 276.004 |
|
|
was committed with malice or with reckless indifference to the |
|
|
state-protected rights of an aggrieved individual. |
|
|
(c) The sum of the amount of compensatory damages awarded |
|
|
under this section for future pecuniary losses, emotional pain, |
|
|
suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of |
|
|
life, and other nonpecuniary losses and the amount of punitive |
|
|
damages awarded under this section may not exceed, for each |
|
|
complainant: |
|
|
(1) $50,000 in the case of an employer that has fewer |
|
|
than 101 employees; |
|
|
(2) $100,000 in the case of an employer that has more |
|
|
than 100 and fewer than 201 employees; |
|
|
(3) $200,000 in the case of an employer that has more |
|
|
than 200 and fewer than 501 employees; and |
|
|
(4) $300,000 in the case of an employer that has more |
|
|
than 500 employees. |
|
|
(d) For the purposes of Subsection (c), in determining the |
|
|
number of employees of an employer, the requisite number of |
|
|
employees must be employed by the employer for each of 20 or more |
|
|
calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year. |
|
|
(e) Interim earnings, workers' compensation benefits, and |
|
|
unemployment compensation benefits received operate to reduce the |
|
|
back pay otherwise allowable under this section. |
|
|
(f) Sovereign immunity to suit and from liability is waived |
|
|
to the extent of liability created under this section for a |
|
|
violation of Section 276.004, and an employee may sue a |
|
|
governmental entity for damages allowed under this section. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013. |