86R1840 JSC-D
 
  By: Zwiener H.B. No. 2279
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the prohibition against sexual harassment in the
  workplace.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Chapter 21, Labor Code, is amended by adding
  Subchapter C-1, and a heading is added to that subchapter to read as
  follows:
  SUBCHAPTER C-1. SEXUAL HARASSMENT
         SECTION 2.  Section 21.1065, Labor Code, is transferred to
  Subchapter C-1, Chapter 21, Labor Code, as added by this Act,
  redesignated as Sections 21.141, 21.142, and 21.143, Labor Code,
  and amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 21.141.  DEFINITIONS. [21.1065.   SEXUAL HARASSMENT
  PROTECTIONS FOR UNPAID INTERNS.   (a)]  In this subchapter:
               (1)  "Employer" means a person who:
                     (A)  employs one or more employees; or
                     (B)  acts directly or indirectly in the interests
  of an employer in relation to an employee.
               (2)  "Sexual [section, "sexual] harassment" means an
  unwelcome sexual advance, a request for a sexual favor, or any other
  verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature if:
                     (A) [(1)]  submission to the advance, request, or
  conduct is made a term or condition of an individual's employment or
  internship, either explicitly or implicitly;
                     (B) [(2)]  submission to or rejection of the
  advance, request, or conduct by an individual is used as the basis
  for a decision affecting the individual's employment or internship;
                     (C) [(3)]  the advance, request, or conduct has
  the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an
  individual's work performance [at the individual's internship]; or
                     (D) [(4)]  the advance, request, or conduct has
  the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, or
  offensive working environment.
         Sec. 21.142.  UNLAWFUL EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE. [(b)] An
  employer commits an unlawful employment practice if sexual
  harassment of an employee or unpaid intern occurs and the employer
  or the employer's agents or supervisors:
               (1)  know or should have known that the conduct
  constituting sexual harassment was occurring; and
               (2)  fail to take immediate and appropriate corrective
  action.
         Sec. 21.143.  UNPAID INTERNS. [(c)]  In this subchapter
  [section], an individual is considered to be an unpaid intern of an
  employer if:
               (1)  the individual's internship, even though it
  includes engagement in the employer's operations or the performance
  of productive work for the employer, is similar to training that
  would be given in an educational environment;
               (2)  the individual's internship experience is for the
  individual's benefit;
               (3)  the individual does not displace the employer's
  regular employees but works under close supervision of the
  employer's existing staff;
               (4)  the employer does not derive any immediate
  advantage from the individual's internship activities and on
  occasion the employer's operations may be impeded by those
  activities;
               (5)  the individual is not entitled to a job at the
  conclusion of the internship; and
               (6)  the individual is not entitled to wages for the
  time spent in the internship.
         SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to a claim based on conduct that occurs on or after the effective
  date of this Act. A claim that is based on conduct that occurs
  before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
  effect on the date the conduct occurred, and the former law is
  continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.