AB 2713: Public employment: sexual harassment tracking.

Existing law grants the Department of Human Resources the power to operate the state civil service system in accordance with Article VII of the California Constitution, the Government Code, the merit principle, and applicable rules duly adopted by the State Personnel Board. Existing law prohibits a person from being discriminated against in the terms, conditions, and privileges of his or her employment with the state based on his or her medical condition, mental disability, or physical disability. Existing law provides that each state agency is responsible for an effective employment opportunity program within that agency, and requires the appointing power of that agency to carry out specified duties, including establishing procedures for filing, processing, and resolving discrimination complaints. Existing law requires the appointing power of each state agency, and the director of each state department, to appoint an equal employment opportunity officer to develop, implement, coordinate, and monitor the agencys equal employment opportunity program.

The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) makes specified employment practices unlawful, including sexual harassment of an employee or other specified persons by an employer, labor organization, employment agency, apprenticeship training program, or any training program leading to employment. FEHA authorizes a person alleging a violation of specified provisions of the act relating to employment discrimination to submit a verified complaint to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, and requires the department to take actions to investigate and conciliate that complaint.

This bill would require the equal employment officer of each state agency to, by July 1, 2019, and annually on that date thereafter, submit a report to the Department of Human Resources that contains specified information relating to sexual harassment complaints received by, or filed with, that agency within a specified time period, and information related to any judgment or settlement paid or received by the agency relating to sexual harassment. The bill would prohibit the equal employment officer from including in the report any individually identifiable information pertaining to a complainant or witness. The bill would require the Department of Human Resources to, by January 1, 2020, and annually on that date thereafter, submit a report to the Legislature, and post the report, in a machine readable format, on its Internet Web site, using the information submitted by state agencies as described in the previous sentence that includes information related to sexual harassment complaints received by, or filed with, any state agency statewide during the time period reflected in the reports, as well as information related to any judgment or settlement paid or received statewide relating to sexual harassment. The bill would require the Department of Human Resources, in preparing that annual report, to include detailed information on each agency that submitted a report, and to provide specified information for each complaint.

The bill would require the Department of Fair Employment and Housing by January 1, 2020, and annually on that date thereafter, to compile a report, and post it on its Internet Web site, relating to sexual harassment complaints received by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, pursuant to the provisions governing FEHA described above, and would require that report to include specified information relating to the number of verified complaints alleging sexual harassment received by, or filed with, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, as well as the results of any investigation of those complaints.

The bill would require the employment officer of each state agency, or supervisor directly involved in the investigation of a claim, who receives a complaint alleging sexual harassment to provide the complainant specified information in writing relating to the complainants rights under federal and state law.