Bill Text: FL S0208 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Persons With Disabilities
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-07 - Indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration [S0208 Detail]
Download: Florida-2011-S0208-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2011 SB 208
By Senator Fasano
11-00154-11 2011208__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to persons with disabilities; amending
3 s. 393.13, F.S.; providing that persons with
4 developmental disabilities have a right to be free
5 from negligence; specifying that entities as well as
6 individuals are liable for damages; amending s.
7 509.092, F.S.; prohibiting the operator of a public
8 lodging or food establishment from discriminating on
9 the basis of disability; amending s. 760.01, F.S.;
10 conforming provisions to changes made by the act;
11 substituting the term “disability” for the term
12 “handicap”; reordering and amending s. 760.02, F.S.;
13 conforming provisions to changes made by the act;
14 redefining the term “public accommodations”; amending
15 ss. 760.05, 760.07, 760.08, and 760.10, F.S.;
16 conforming provisions to changes made by the act;
17 substituting the term “disability” for the term
18 “handicap”; amending s. 760.11, F.S.; applying
19 administrative and civil remedies available under the
20 Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992 to certain violations
21 against persons with disabilities; creating s. 760.15,
22 F.S.; creating the “Floridians with Disabilities Act”;
23 providing legislative intent; adopting the federal
24 Americans with Disabilities Act into state law and
25 making it part of the Florida Civil Rights Act of
26 1992; providing an effective date.
27
28 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
29
30 Section 1. Paragraph (g) of subsection (3) and subsection
31 (5) of section 393.13, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
32 393.13 Treatment of persons with developmental
33 disabilities.—
34 (3) RIGHTS OF ALL PERSONS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES.
35 The rights described in this subsection shall apply to all
36 persons with developmental disabilities, whether or not such
37 persons are clients of the agency.
38 (g) Persons with developmental disabilities shall have a
39 right to be free from harm, including unnecessary physical,
40 chemical, or mechanical restraint, isolation, excessive
41 medication, abuse, or negligence neglect.
42 (5) LIABILITY FOR VIOLATIONS.—An individual or entity that
43 Any person who violates or abuses any rights or privileges of
44 persons with developmental disabilities as provided by this
45 chapter is liable for damages as determined by law. An
46 individual or entity acting Any person who acts in good faith
47 compliance with the provisions of this chapter is immune from
48 civil or criminal liability for actions in connection with the
49 evaluation, admission, habilitative programming, education,
50 treatment, or discharge of a client. However, this subsection
51 section does not relieve an individual or entity any person from
52 liability if the individual or entity person is liable for or
53 commits guilty of negligence, misfeasance, nonfeasance, or
54 malfeasance.
55 Section 2. Section 509.092, Florida Statutes, is amended to
56 read:
57 509.092 Public lodging establishments and public food
58 service establishments; rights as private enterprises.—Public
59 lodging establishments and public food service establishments
60 are private enterprises, and the operator has the right to
61 refuse accommodations or service to any person who is
62 objectionable or undesirable to the operator, but such refusal
63 may not be based upon race, creed, color, sex, physical
64 disability, or national origin. A person aggrieved by a
65 violation of this section or a violation of a rule adopted under
66 this section has a right of action pursuant to s. 760.11.
67 Section 3. Subsections (1) and (2) of section 760.01,
68 Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
69 760.01 Purposes; construction; title.—
70 (1) This part Sections 760.01-760.11 and s. 509.092 may
71 shall be cited as the “Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992.”
72 (2) The general purposes of the Florida Civil Rights Act of
73 1992 are to secure for all individuals within the state freedom
74 from discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex,
75 national origin, age, disability handicap, or marital status and
76 thereby to protect their interest in personal dignity, to make
77 available to the state their full productive capacities, to
78 secure the state against domestic strife and unrest, to preserve
79 the public safety, health, and general welfare, and to promote
80 the interests, rights, and privileges of individuals within the
81 state.
82 Section 4. Section 760.02, Florida Statutes, is reordered
83 and amended to read:
84 760.02 Definitions.—For the purposes of this part ss.
85 760.01-760.11 and s. 509.092, the term:
86 (7)(1) “Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992” means the
87 provisions of this part and s. ss. 760.01-760.11 and 509.092.
88 (2) “Commission” means the Florida Commission on Human
89 Relations created by s. 760.03.
90 (3) “Commissioner” or “member” means a member of the
91 commission.
92 (4) “Discriminatory practice” means any practice made
93 unlawful by the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992.
94 (9)(5) “National origin” includes ancestry.
95 (10)(6) “Person” includes an individual, association,
96 corporation, joint apprenticeship committee, joint-stock
97 company, labor union, legal representative, mutual company,
98 partnership, receiver, trust, trustee in bankruptcy, or
99 unincorporated organization; any other legal or commercial
100 entity; the state; or any governmental entity or agency.
101 (5)(7) “Employer” means any person employing 15 or more
102 employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar
103 weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, and any agent
104 of such a person.
105 (6)(8) “Employment agency” means any person regularly
106 undertaking, with or without compensation, to procure employees
107 for an employer or to procure for employees opportunities to
108 work for an employer, and includes an agent of such a person.
109 (8)(9) “Labor organization” means any organization that
110 which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of collective
111 bargaining or of dealing with employers concerning grievances,
112 terms or conditions of employment, or other mutual aid or
113 protection in connection with employment.
114 (1)(10) “Aggrieved person” means any person who files a
115 complaint with the Human Relations commission.
116 (11) “Public accommodations” means places of public
117 accommodation, lodgings, facilities principally engaged in
118 selling food for consumption on the premises, gasoline stations,
119 places of exhibition or entertainment, and other covered
120 establishments. The term includes Each of the following
121 establishments which serves the public is a place of public
122 accommodation within the meaning of this section:
123 (a) An Any inn, hotel, motel, or other establishment which
124 provides lodging to transient guests, other than an
125 establishment located within a building which contains not more
126 than four rooms for rent or hire and which is actually occupied
127 by the proprietor of such establishment as his or her residence.
128 (b) A Any restaurant, cafeteria, lunchroom, lunch counter,
129 soda fountain, or other facility principally engaged in selling
130 food for consumption on the premises, including, but not limited
131 to, any such facility located on the premises of any retail
132 establishment, or any gasoline station.
133 (c) A Any motion picture theater, theater, concert hall,
134 sports arena, stadium, or other place of exhibition or
135 entertainment.
136 (d) An Any establishment that which is physically located
137 within the premises of an any establishment otherwise covered by
138 this subsection, or within the premises of which is physically
139 located any such covered establishment, and that which holds
140 itself out as serving patrons of such covered establishment.
141
142 For the purposes of the Floridians with Disabilities Act under
143 s. 760.15, the term also includes a facility or entity included
144 in the definition of the term “place of public accommodation”
145 under Title III of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act,
146 whichever is more inclusive.
147 Section 5. Section 760.05, Florida Statutes, is amended to
148 read:
149 760.05 Functions of the commission.—The commission shall
150 promote and encourage fair treatment and equal opportunity for
151 all persons regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national
152 origin, age, disability handicap, or marital status and mutual
153 understanding and respect among all members of all economic,
154 social, racial, religious, and ethnic groups; and shall endeavor
155 to eliminate discrimination against, and antagonism between,
156 religious, racial, and ethnic groups and their members.
157 Section 6. Section 760.07, Florida Statutes, is amended to
158 read:
159 760.07 Remedies for unlawful discrimination.—Any violation
160 of any state law Florida statute making unlawful discrimination
161 because of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age,
162 disability handicap, or marital status in the areas of
163 education, employment, housing, or public accommodations gives
164 rise to a cause of action for all relief and damages described
165 in s. 760.11(5), unless greater damages are expressly provided
166 for. If the law statute prohibiting unlawful discrimination
167 provides an administrative remedy, the action for equitable
168 relief and damages provided for in this section may be initiated
169 only after the plaintiff has exhausted his or her administrative
170 remedy. The term “public accommodations” does not include lodge
171 halls or other similar facilities of private organizations which
172 are made available for public use occasionally or periodically.
173 The right to trial by jury is preserved in any case in which the
174 plaintiff is seeking actual or punitive damages.
175 Section 7. Section 760.08, Florida Statutes, is amended to
176 read:
177 760.08 Discrimination in places of public accommodation.
178 All persons are shall be entitled to the full and equal
179 enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges,
180 advantages, and accommodations of any place of public
181 accommodation, as defined in this chapter, without
182 discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color,
183 national origin, sex, disability handicap, familial status, or
184 religion.
185 Section 8. Section 760.10, Florida Statutes, is amended to
186 read:
187 760.10 Unlawful employment practices.—
188 (1) It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer
189 to:
190 (a) To Discharge or to fail or refuse to hire any
191 individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual
192 with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges
193 of employment, because of such individual’s race, color,
194 religion, sex, national origin, age, disability handicap, or
195 marital status.
196 (b) To Limit, segregate, or classify employees or
197 applicants for employment in any way that deprives which would
198 deprive or tends tend to deprive any individual of employment
199 opportunities, or adversely affects affect any individual’s
200 status as an employee, because of his or her such individual’s
201 race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability
202 handicap, or marital status.
203 (2) It is an unlawful employment practice for an employment
204 agency to fail or refuse to refer for employment, or otherwise
205 to discriminate against, any individual because of race, color,
206 religion, sex, national origin, age, disability handicap, or
207 marital status or to classify or refer for employment any
208 individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national
209 origin, age, disability handicap, or marital status.
210 (3) It is an unlawful employment practice for a labor
211 organization to:
212 (a) To Exclude or to expel from its membership, or
213 otherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of
214 race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability
215 handicap, or marital status.
216 (b) To Limit, segregate, or classify its membership or
217 applicants for membership, or to classify or fail or refuse to
218 refer for employment any individual, in any way that deprives
219 which would deprive or tends tend to deprive any individual of
220 employment opportunities, or adversely affects affect any
221 individual’s status as an employee or as an applicant for
222 employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion,
223 sex, national origin, age, disability handicap, or marital
224 status.
225 (c) To Cause or attempt to cause an employer to
226 discriminate against an individual in violation of this section.
227 (4) It is an unlawful employment practice for an any
228 employer, labor organization, or joint labor-management
229 committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or
230 retraining, including on-the-job training programs, to
231 discriminate against any individual because of race, color,
232 religion, sex, national origin, age, disability handicap, or
233 marital status in admission to, or employment in, any program
234 established to provide apprenticeship or other training.
235 (5) If Whenever, in order to engage in a profession,
236 occupation, or trade, it is required that a person must receive
237 a license, certification, or other credential;, become a member
238 or an associate of any club, association, or other
239 organization;, or pass an any examination, it is an unlawful
240 employment practice for any person to discriminate against any
241 other person seeking such license, certification, or other
242 credential;, seeking to become a member or associate of such
243 club, association, or other organization;, or seeking to take or
244 pass such examination, because of such other person’s race,
245 color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability handicap,
246 or marital status.
247 (6) It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer,
248 labor organization, employment agency, or joint labor-management
249 committee to print, or cause to be printed or published, any
250 notice or advertisement relating to employment, membership,
251 classification, referral for employment, or apprenticeship or
252 other training, indicating any preference, limitation,
253 specification, or discrimination, based on race, color,
254 religion, sex, national origin, age, absence of disability
255 handicap, or marital status.
256 (7) It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer,
257 an employment agency, a joint labor-management committee, or a
258 labor organization to discriminate against any person because
259 that person has opposed any practice that which is an unlawful
260 employment practice under this section, or because that person
261 has made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any
262 manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this
263 section.
264 (8) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, it
265 is not an unlawful employment practice under this part ss.
266 760.01-760.10 for an employer, employment agency, labor
267 organization, or joint labor-management committee to:
268 (a) Take or fail to take any action on the basis of
269 religion, sex, national origin, age, disability handicap, or
270 marital status in those certain instances in which religion,
271 sex, national origin, age, absence of a particular disability
272 handicap, or marital status is a bona fide occupational
273 qualification reasonably necessary for the performance of the
274 particular employment to which such action or inaction is
275 related.
276 (b) Observe the terms of a bona fide seniority system, a
277 bona fide employee benefit plan, such as a retirement, pension,
278 or insurance plan, or a system that which measures earnings by
279 quantity or quality of production and, which is not designed,
280 intended, or used to evade the purposes of this part ss. 760.01
281 760.10. However, no such employee benefit plan or system that
282 which measures earnings does not shall excuse the failure to
283 hire, and no such seniority system, employee benefit plan, or
284 system that which measures earnings does not shall excuse the
285 involuntary retirement of, any individual on the basis of any
286 factor not related to the ability of such individual to perform
287 the particular employment for which the such individual has
288 applied or in which the such individual is engaged. This
289 subsection does shall not prohibit be construed to make unlawful
290 the rejection or termination of employment if when the
291 individual applicant or employee has failed to meet bona fide
292 requirements for the job or position sought or held or to
293 require any changes in any bona fide retirement or pension
294 programs or existing collective bargaining agreements during the
295 life of the contract, and or for 2 years after October 1, 1981,
296 whichever occurs first, nor shall this part does not act
297 preclude such physical and medical examinations of applicants
298 and employees as an employer may require of applicants and
299 employees to determine fitness for the job or position sought or
300 held.
301 (c) Take or fail to take any action on the basis of age,
302 pursuant to law or regulation governing any employment or
303 training program designed to benefit persons of a particular age
304 group.
305 (d) Take or fail to take any action on the basis of marital
306 status if that status is prohibited under its antinepotism
307 policy.
308 (9) This section does shall not apply to any religious
309 corporation, association, educational institution, or society
310 that which conditions opportunities in the area of employment or
311 public accommodation to members of that religious corporation,
312 association, educational institution, or society or to persons
313 who subscribe to its tenets or beliefs. This section does shall
314 not prohibit a religious corporation, association, educational
315 institution, or society from giving preference in employment to
316 individuals of a particular religion to perform work connected
317 with the carrying on by such corporations, associations,
318 educational institutions, or societies of its various
319 activities.
320 (10) Each employer, employment agency, and labor
321 organization shall post and keep posted in conspicuous places
322 upon its premises a notice provided by the commission setting
323 forth such information as the commission deems appropriate to
324 effectuate the purposes of this part ss. 760.01-760.10.
325 Section 9. Subsection (1) of section 760.11, Florida
326 Statutes, is amended to read:
327 760.11 Administrative and civil remedies; construction.—
328 (1) Any person aggrieved by a violation of this part,
329 including the Floridians with Disabilities Act, ss. 760.01
330 760.10 may file a complaint with the commission within 365 days
331 after of the alleged violation, naming the employer, employment
332 agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee,
333 public accommodation, or, in the case of an alleged violation of
334 s. 760.10(5), the person responsible for the violation and
335 describing the violation. Any person aggrieved by a violation of
336 s. 413.08, s. 509.092, or ss. 553.501-553.513 may file a
337 complaint with the commission within 365 days after of the
338 alleged violation naming the person responsible for the
339 violation and describing the violation. The commission, a
340 commissioner, or the Attorney General may in like manner file
341 such a complaint. On the same day the complaint is filed with
342 the commission, the commission shall clearly stamp on the face
343 of the complaint the date the complaint was filed with the
344 commission on the face of the complaint. In lieu of filing the
345 complaint with the commission, a complaint under this section
346 may be filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity
347 Commission or with any unit of government of the state agency
348 that which is a fair-employment-practice agency under 29 C.F.R.
349 ss. 1601.70-1601.80. If the date the complaint is filed is
350 clearly stamped on the face of the complaint, that date is the
351 date of filing. The date the complaint is filed with the
352 commission for purposes of this section is the earliest date of
353 filing with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the
354 fair-employment-practice agency, or the commission. The
355 complaint must shall contain a short and plain statement of the
356 facts describing the violation and the relief sought. The
357 commission may require additional information to be in the
358 complaint. The commission, Within 5 days after of the complaint
359 is being filed, the commission shall by registered mail send a
360 copy of the complaint by registered mail to the person who
361 allegedly committed the violation. The person who allegedly
362 committed the violation may file an answer to the complaint
363 within 25 days after of the date the complaint was filed with
364 the commission. Any answer filed must shall be mailed to the
365 aggrieved person by the person filing the answer. Both The
366 complaint and the answer must shall be verified.
367 Section 10. Section 760.15, Florida Statutes, is created to
368 read:
369 760.15 Floridians with Disabilities Act.—
370 (1) This section may be cited as the “Floridians with
371 Disabilities Act.”
372 (2) The Legislature finds that, while the federal Americans
373 with Disabilities Act applies to state and local government
374 agencies and to many private entities within this state, there
375 remain many barriers that prevent persons with disabilities from
376 accessing the full range of public and private programs and
377 services otherwise available in this state to persons without
378 disabilities. The Legislature, therefore, intends to promote a
379 greater awareness by the state’s public and private entities of
380 their obligations under the federal act by enacting the
381 Americans with Disabilities Act as the law of this state by
382 making the civil and administrative remedies of the Florida
383 Civil Rights Act of 1992 available to redress violations of the
384 federal act.
385 (3) The federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as
386 amended by the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of
387 2008, is adopted as the law of this state and made part of the
388 Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992, to be administered by the
389 Florida Commission on Human Relations.
390 (4) The provisions of this part, including the civil and
391 administrative remedies for alleged violations, apply to this
392 section, unless expressly exempted.
393 (5) An individual may not seek relief under this section if
394 he or she has commenced an action in state or federal court
395 under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.
396 (6) This section does not expand substantive protections
397 against discrimination based on disability beyond those provided
398 in the federal Americans with Disabilities Act or in other
399 sections of state law.
400 Section 11. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.
