Bill Text: TX HB2463 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to access to certain records regarding an employment discrimination claim.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2011-06-17 - Effective on 9/1/11 [HB2463 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB2463-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 2463

AN ACT
relating to access to certain records regarding an employment
discrimination claim.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 21.304, Labor Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 21.304. CONFIDENTIALITY OF RECORDS. An officer or
employee of the commission may not disclose to the public
information obtained by the commission under Section 21.204 except
in compliance with Section 21.305 and as necessary to the conduct of
a proceeding under this chapter.
SECTION 2. Section 21.305, Labor Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 21.305. ACCESS TO COMMISSION RECORDS. (a) Except as
provided by Subsection (c), the [The] commission shall adopt rules
allowing a party to a complaint filed under Section 21.201
reasonable access to commission records relating to the complaint.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), unless [Unless]
the complaint is resolved through a voluntary settlement or
conciliation, on the written request of a party the executive
director shall allow the party access to the commission records:
(1) after the final action of the commission; or
(2) if a civil action relating to the complaint is
filed in federal court alleging a violation of federal law.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 552.023, Government Code, the
following information is not considered public information for the
purposes of Chapter 552, Government Code, and may not be disclosed
to a party to a complaint filed under Section 21.201:
(1) identifying information of persons other than the
parties and witnesses to the complaint;
(2) identifying information about confidential
witnesses, including any confidential statement given by the
witness;
(3) sensitive medical information about the charging
party or a witness to the complaint that is:
(A) provided by a person other than the person
requesting the information; and
(B) not relevant to issues raised in the
complaint, including information that identifies injuries,
impairments, pregnancies, disabilities, or other medical
conditions that are not obviously apparent or visible;
(4) identifying information about a person other than
the charging party that is found in sensitive medical information
regardless of whether the information is relevant to the complaint;
(5) nonsensitive medical information that is relevant
to the complaint if the disclosure would result in an invasion of
personal privacy, unless the information is generally known or has
been previously reported to the public;
(6) identifying information about other respondents
or employers not a party to the complaint;
(7) information relating to settlement offers or
conciliation agreements received from one party that was not
conveyed to the other and information contained in a separate
alternative dispute resolution file prepared for mediation
purposes; and
(8) identifying information about a person on whose
behalf a complaint was filed if the person has requested that the
person's identity as a complaining party remain confidential.
(d) In this section, "identifying information" has the
meaning assigned by Section 32.51, Penal Code.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2463 was passed by the House on April
14, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 142, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 2463 on May 27, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2463 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 25, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0
.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor