SB 383 revises Ohio’s laws concerning discrimination and harassment in employment, particularly in adding new limits on the options for filing an employment discrimination complaint or lawsuit and the remedies that can be awarded in successful cases.
Jurisdiction/Legislation Level
State
LCS Legislation Status
http://lsc.state.oh.us/coderev/sen129.nsf/Senate+Bill+Number/0383?OpenDo...
Our Take on This Bill
SB 383 strongly curtails the legal protections against employment discrimination that Ohioans enjoy today. Among its provisions are sections that do the following:
- Drastically reduce the time for filing discrimination and harassment lawsuits
- Largely exempt managers and supervisors from being sued individually for illegal discrimination and harassmentent
- Restrict employees seeking relief from discrimination or harassment to choose between the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and the courts
- Create unusually low caps for amounts that can be awarded in successful cases
- Cut off access to many of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission’s findings from completed investigations, unless their findings are in the favor of the employee
These changes amount to increased barriers for employees who find themselves victims of discrimination and harassment, and lower risk for employers who do not follow the law.
Bill Status
Bill substituted on 12/05/2012
Committees
Insurance / Commerce / Labor (S)
