Bill Text: IL HB0942 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Amends the Code of Civil Procedure. Makes a technical change in the short title Section.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HB0942 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HB0942-Amended.html

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Rep. Constance A. Howard

Filed: 3/8/2011

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AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 942
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 942 by replacing
everything after the enacting clause with the following:
"Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
Abusive Work Environment Act.
Section 5. Findings and purpose.
(a) Findings. The General Assembly finds that:
(1) The social and economic well-being of the State is
dependent upon healthy and productive employees;
(2) Between 37% and 59% of employees directly
experience health-endangering workplace bullying, abuse,
and harassment, and this mistreatment is approximately 4
times more prevalent than sexual harassment alone;
(3) Workplace bullying, mobbing, and harassment can
inflict serious harm upon targeted employees, including
feelings of shame and humiliation, severe anxiety,

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depression, suicidal tendencies, impaired immune systems,
hypertension, increased risk of cardiovascular disease,
and symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress
disorder;
(4) Abusive work environments can have serious
consequences for employers, including reduced employee
productivity and morale, higher turnover and absenteeism
rates, and increases in medical and workers' compensation
claims;
(5) If mistreated employees who have been subjected to
abusive treatment at work cannot establish that the
behavior was motivated by race, color, sex, sexual
orientation, national origin, or age, they are unlikely to
be protected by the law against such mistreatment;
(6) Legal protection from abusive work environments
should not be limited to behavior grounded in protected
class status as that provided for under employment
discrimination statutes; and
(7) Existing workers' compensation plans and
common-law tort actions are inadequate to discourage this
behavior or to provide adequate relief to employees who
have been harmed by abusive work environments.
(b) Purpose. It is the purpose of this Act:
(1) To provide legal relief for employees who have been
harmed, psychologically, physically, or economically, by
being deliberately subjected to abusive work environments;

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and
(2) To provide legal incentive for employers to prevent
and respond to abusive mistreatment of employees at work.
Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act:
(a) Abusive work environment. An abusive work environment
exists when the defendant, acting with malice, subjects an
employee to abusive conduct so severe that it causes tangible
harm to the employee.
(1) Abusive conduct. Abusive conduct is conduct,
including acts, omissions, or both, that a reasonable
person would find hostile, based on the severity, nature,
and frequency of the defendant's conduct. Abusive conduct
may include, but is not limited to: repeated infliction of
verbal abuse such as the use of derogatory remarks,
insults, and epithets; verbal or physical conduct of a
threatening, intimidating, or humiliating nature; the
sabotage or undermining of an employee's work performance;
or attempts to exploit an employee's known psychological or
physical vulnerability. A single act normally will not
constitute abusive conduct, but an especially severe and
egregious act may meet this standard.
(2) Malice. Malice is defined as the desire to cause
pain, injury, or distress to another.
(b) Tangible harm. Tangible harm is defined as
psychological harm or physical harm.

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(1) Psychological harm. Psychological harm is the
material impairment of a person's mental health, as
established by competent evidence.
(2) Physical harm. Physical harm is the material
impairment of a person's physical health or bodily
integrity, as established by competent evidence.
(c) Adverse employment action. An adverse employment
action includes, but is not limited to, a termination,
demotion, unfavorable reassignment, failure to promote,
disciplinary action, or reduction in compensation.
(d) Constructive discharge. A constructive discharge shall
be considered a termination, and, therefore, an adverse
employment action within the meaning of this Act. A
constructive discharge exists where: (1) the employee
reasonably believed he or she was subjected to abusive conduct;
(2) the employee resigned because of that abusive conduct; and
(3) prior to resigning, the employee brought to the employer's
attention the existence of the abusive conduct and the employer
failed to take reasonable steps to correct the situation.
(e) Employer. "Employer" includes the State or any
subdivision thereof, any county, municipality, unit of local
government, school district, community college district,
municipal or public corporation, or State university.
Section 15. Unlawful employment practices.
(a) Abusive Work Environment. It shall be an unlawful

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employment practice under this Act to subject an employee to an
abusive work environment as defined by this Act.
(b) Retaliation. It shall be an unlawful employment
practice under this Act to retaliate in any manner against an
employee who has opposed any unlawful employment practice under
this Act, or who has made a charge, testified, assisted, or
participated in any manner in an investigation or proceeding
under this Act, including, but not limited to, internal
complaints and proceedings, arbitration and mediation
proceedings, and legal actions.
Section 20. Employer liability and defense.
(a) An employer shall be vicariously liable for an unlawful
employment practice, as defined by this Act, committed by its
employee.
(b) Where the alleged unlawful employment practice does not
include an adverse employment action, it shall be an
affirmative defense for an employer only that:
(1) the employer exercised reasonable care to prevent
and correct promptly any actionable behavior; and
(2) the complainant employee unreasonably failed to
take advantage of appropriate preventive or corrective
opportunities provided by the employer.
Section 25. Employee liability and defense.
(a) An employee may be individually liable for an unlawful

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employment practice as defined by this Act.
(b) It shall be an affirmative defense for an employee only
that the employee committed an unlawful employment practice as
defined in this Act at the direction of the employer, under
threat of an adverse employment action.
Section 30. Affirmative defenses. It shall be an
affirmative defense that:
(a) The complaint is based on an adverse employment action
reasonably made for poor performance, misconduct, or economic
necessity;
(b) The complaint is based on a reasonable performance
evaluation; or
(c) The complaint is based on a defendant's reasonable
investigation about potentially illegal or unethical activity.
Section 35. Relief.
(a) Relief generally. Where a defendant has been found to
have committed an unlawful employment practice under this Act,
the court may enjoin the defendant from engaging in the
unlawful employment practice and may order any other relief
that is deemed appropriate, including, but not limited to,
reinstatement, removal of the offending party from the
complainant's work environment, back pay, front pay, medical
expenses, compensation for emotional distress, punitive
damages, and attorney's fees.

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(b) Employer liability. Where an employer has been found to
have committed an unlawful employment practice under this Act
that did not culminate in an adverse employment action, its
liability for damages for emotional distress shall not exceed
$25,000, and it shall not be subject to punitive damages. This
provision does not apply to individually named employee
defendants.
Section 40. Procedures.
(a) Private right of action. This Act shall be enforced
solely by a private right of action.
(b) Time limitations. An action under this Act must be
commenced no later than one year after the last act that
constitutes the alleged unlawful employment practice.
Section 45. Effect on other legal relationships. The
remedies provided for in this Act shall be in addition to any
remedies provided under any other law, and nothing in this Act
shall relieve any person from any liability, duty, penalty or
punishment provided by any other law, except that if an
employee receives workers' compensation for medical costs for
the same injury or illness pursuant to both this Act and the
Workers' Compensation Act, or compensation under both this Act
and that Act in cash payments for the same period of time not
working as a result of the compensable injury or illness or the
unlawful employment practice, the payments of workers'

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compensation shall be reimbursed from compensation paid under
this Act.".