On July 31, 2024, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, reintroduced the Bringing an End to Harassment by Enhancing Accountability and Rejecting Discrimination (BE HEARD) in the Workplace Act of 2024 in the Senate. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-07) introduced the bill in the House, along with Congresswomen Sylvia Garcia (D-TX-29), Marilyn Strickland (D-WA-10), and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-08). This bill seeks to educate employees and employers and address workplace harassment and ensure workers can seek accountability and justice. This bill was first introduced in 2019. You can read more about hostile work environment claims and discrimination claims in my blog posts There is a Difference in Quid Pro Quo and Hostile Work Environment and Employment Discrimination Must Be 1 of 2 Things.
Don’t sit on your rights. If you are being illegally harassed, if you are thinking of handing in a resignation letter, or think you will be fired, or have been terminated, you should contact this office immediately for a free consultation to discuss your options. Hope A. Lang, Attorney at Law represents workers throughout the entire state and in every NJ County,
In many instances of discrimination, if you quit your job, you may lose right to prevail in a lawsuit unless you first take certain legally required measures to preserve your job while you are still employed.
Background
On March 3, 2022, President Joseph Biden signed the “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021.” This Act carves out an exception to the Federal Arbitration Act which mandates that employee employment arbitration agreements are enforceable even when employees were forced into signing them. Forced arbitration agreements gives employers a legally enforceable instrument to hide reprehensible misconduct. Forced arbitration shields workplace sexual predators instead of holding them accountable for their heinous acts. The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 signed by President Biden had Congressional bi-partisan support and ended the forced arbitration of employee sexual harassment and assault cases. The new law took effect retroactively. This law expanded employee rights. Prior to this law, the survivors of sexual harassment and assault were prohibited from going to court because these types of court claims were precluded by the Federal Arbitration Act. Employees with sexual harassment and assault claims could thereafter file lawsuits in court against their perpetrators. To read details of this act read Biden Signs Law Ending Forced Arbitration of Employee Sexual Harassment and Assault Cases.
2024 Proposed Legislation Seeks to Broaden Understanding of What Constitutes Workplace Harassment
BE HEARD in the Workplace Act of 2024 seeks to broaden understanding of what constitutes workplace harassment among employers and employees.
Discrimination cannot be prevented until it is first recognized as existing in fact. Toward this end, the proposed legislation BE HEARD seeks to end workplace harassment, by requiring systematic reporting on the prevalence of harassment in the workplace. It proposes a procedural structure to ensure that workers have access to critical information and training about what constitutes illegal harassment and explanations of their rights if they are harassed. It proposes investing in research about the economic impact of workplace harassment.
The BE HEARD in the Workplace Act builds on and strengthens existing civil rights laws by expanding protections for workers, while safeguarding existing anti-discrimination laws. It clarifies that the Civil Rights Act protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the context of workplace discrimination. Non-employee Workers, Independent Contractors and Interns Will Also Be Protected.
BE HEARD’s provisions will not just apply to employees. Its provisions will also apply to independent contractors and interns.
Many workers are unclear about what constitutes illegal harassment. It has been well-established by the courts that illegal harassment against persons of a protected class can create a hostile work environment. A work environment that has grown hostile to the victimized employee, exists when the harassment is so severe; or else frequent, ongoing, or pervasive; that a reasonable person in the employee’s position and of the same protected class, would find the situation to have become hostile and abusive. To read more on what constitutes harassment, read Employment Discrimination Must be 1 of 2 Things.
Help for Workers Who Report Harassment
Workers who report harassment in the workplace frequently do not receive the support they deserve, their allegations are not believed, or their reporting of illegal harassment is not fully and properly investigated by the employer. The BE HEARD in the Workplace Act:
Invests in delivering more resources to the state level to help workers ensure their rights are protected,
Allows workers more time to report harassment,
Authorizes grants to support legal assistance for workers who have low incomes,
Lifts the cap on damages when workers pursue legal action and win their cases.
Particular Help for Workers in the Service Industry Where Harassment Is Epidemic
Tipped workers such as those in all service and hospitality industries are disproportionately vulnerable to sexual harassment and discrimination by both work supervisors and clients.
Eliminate the Tipped Sub-minimum Wage
The BE HEARD in the Workplace Act innovatively eliminates the tipped sub-minimum wage, because workers making earnings by the tipped sub-minimum wage are more vulnerable to exploitation by both their employers and clients out of fear of retaliation if they complain or report such acts.
The 173-page BE HEARD in the Workplace Act lays out articulated, fine-tuned directives to employers regarding required establishing and enforcing comprehensive non-discrimination employment policies and reporting requirements, which Act states initially in part as follows:
“At a minimum, the comprehensive nondiscrimination policy shall include—
(1) a definition of prohibited discrimination, including harassment, in employment;
(2) a description of the types of behaviors prohibited by the policy;
(3) the identification of multiple individuals to whom an employee may report such discrimination, and the contact information for those individuals;
(4) a description of multiple methods for reporting such discrimination;
(5) a general description of how the employer 25 will conduct prompt, thorough, and impartial investigations and respond to complaints regarding such discrimination;
(6) a prohibition against retaliation related to such discrimination, including disclosing, reporting,
or challenging such discrimination;
(7) a description of the confidentiality protections available for such discrimination complaints;
(8) a description of potential consequences for violating the policy; and
(9) any additional components required by the Commission for the purpose of preventing such di crimination.”
NONDISCRIMINATION TRAINING
In Sec. 102. of BE HEARD, nondiscrimination training is addressed as follows: The Commission shall promulgate regulations:
(1) to require appropriate employers, as deter9mined by the Commission, to provide—(A) in-person or other interactive training for each employee regarding discriminatory, including harassing, behaviors in employment; and
(B) training specifically designed for supervisors regarding the prevention of and response to discrimination (including harassment) in employment, including retaliation;
(2) to identify specific elements of such training”
BE HEARD Also Applies to Employers with Fewer than 15 Employees
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall make publicly available resource materials on comprehensive nondiscrimination policies and trainings on such policies for employers with fewer than 15 employees.
Don’t Sit on Your Rights
If you are being subjected to such unlawful workplace harassment discrimination or believe you are being pushed out of your job, contact Hope A. Lang, Attorney at Law today for a free consultation. I accept discrimination and whistleblower cases from all over New Jersey and have locations in Southern, Central and Northern NJ to meet with clients.
I am an aggressive and compassionate employment law attorney who is experienced and successful in representing employees who were subjected to sexual harassment, and race and age harassment, persons of color, women, older workers, disabled employees, LGBTQ executives, and in obtaining monetary compensation for their being subjected to harassment and discrimination. I have successfully represented employees who were either terminated or pressured into resigning because of the discrimination against them.
Hope A. Lang, Attorney at Law represents workers throughout the entire state, including Hackensack, Jersey City, Newark, Irvington, Orange, East Orange, Trenton, Paterson, Montclair, Elizabeth, North Brunswick, Cherry Hill, Vineland, Union, Plainfield, Hamilton Township, Lakewood, Edison, Parsippany-Troy Hills, Franklin, Lakewood, and every NJ County, including Bergen, Hudson, Middlesex, Essex, Monmouth, Somerset, Ocean, Union, Camden, Passaic, Morris, Gloucester, Atlantic, Burlington, Camden Counties.