Florida Senate - 2020                                     SB 644
       
       
        
       By Senator Braynon
       
       
       
       
       
       35-00896A-20                                           2020644__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Florida Civil Rights Act;
    3         amending s. 509.092, F.S.; prohibiting discrimination
    4         on the basis of height or weight in public lodging and
    5         food service establishments; amending s. 760.01, F.S.;
    6         revising the general purpose of the Florida Civil
    7         Rights Act of 1992; amending s. 760.05, F.S.; revising
    8         the function of the Florida Commission on Human
    9         Relations; amending s. 760.07, F.S.; providing civil
   10         and administrative remedies for discrimination on the
   11         basis of height or weight; amending s. 760.08, F.S.;
   12         prohibiting discrimination on the basis of height or
   13         weight in places of public accommodation; amending s.
   14         760.10, F.S.; prohibiting employment discrimination on
   15         the basis of height or weight; prohibiting
   16         discrimination on the basis of height or weight by
   17         employment agencies, labor organizations, and joint
   18         labor-management committees; prohibiting
   19         discrimination on the basis of height or weight in
   20         occupational licensing, certification, and membership
   21         organizations; providing an exception to unlawful
   22         employment practices based on height or weight;
   23         reenacting s. 760.11(1), F.S., relating to
   24         administrative and civil remedies for violations of
   25         the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992, to incorporate
   26         the amendments made to s. 760.10(5), F.S., in a
   27         reference thereto; providing an effective date.
   28          
   29  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   30  
   31         Section 1. Section 509.092, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   32  read:
   33         509.092 Public lodging establishments and public food
   34  service establishments; rights as private enterprises.—Public
   35  lodging establishments and public food service establishments
   36  are private enterprises, and the operator has the right to
   37  refuse accommodations or service to any person who is
   38  objectionable or undesirable to the operator, but such refusal
   39  may not be based upon race, creed, color, sex, height, weight,
   40  pregnancy, physical disability, or national origin. A person
   41  aggrieved by a violation of this section or a violation of a
   42  rule adopted under this section has a right of action pursuant
   43  to s. 760.11.
   44         Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 760.01, Florida
   45  Statutes, is amended to read:
   46         760.01 Purposes; construction; title.—
   47         (2) The general purposes of the Florida Civil Rights Act of
   48  1992 are to secure for all individuals within the state freedom
   49  from discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex,
   50  height, weight, pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, or
   51  marital status and thereby to protect their interest in personal
   52  dignity, to make available to the state their full productive
   53  capacities, to secure the state against domestic strife and
   54  unrest, to preserve the public safety, health, and general
   55  welfare, and to promote the interests, rights, and privileges of
   56  individuals within the state.
   57         Section 3. Section 760.05, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   58  read:
   59         760.05 Functions of the commission.—The commission shall
   60  promote and encourage fair treatment and equal opportunity for
   61  all persons regardless of race, color, religion, sex, height,
   62  weight, pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, or marital
   63  status and mutual understanding and respect among all members of
   64  all economic, social, racial, religious, and ethnic groups; and
   65  shall endeavor to eliminate discrimination against, and
   66  antagonism between, religious, racial, and ethnic groups and
   67  their members.
   68         Section 4. Section 760.07, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   69  read:
   70         760.07 Remedies for unlawful discrimination.—Any violation
   71  of any Florida statute making unlawful discrimination because of
   72  race, color, religion, gender, height, weight, pregnancy,
   73  national origin, age, handicap, or marital status in the areas
   74  of education, employment, housing, or public accommodations
   75  gives rise to a cause of action for all relief and damages
   76  described in s. 760.11(5), unless greater damages are expressly
   77  provided for. If the statute prohibiting unlawful discrimination
   78  provides an administrative remedy, the action for equitable
   79  relief and damages provided for in this section may be initiated
   80  only after the plaintiff has exhausted his or her administrative
   81  remedy. The term “public accommodations” does not include lodge
   82  halls or other similar facilities of private organizations which
   83  are made available for public use occasionally or periodically.
   84  The right to trial by jury is preserved in any case in which the
   85  plaintiff is seeking actual or punitive damages.
   86         Section 5. Section 760.08, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   87  read:
   88         760.08 Discrimination in places of public accommodation.
   89  All persons are entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the
   90  goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and
   91  accommodations of any place of public accommodation without
   92  discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color,
   93  national origin, sex, height, weight, pregnancy, handicap,
   94  familial status, or religion.
   95         Section 6. Subsections (1) and (2), paragraphs (a) and (b)
   96  of subsection (3), subsections (4), (5), and (6), and paragraph
   97  (a) of subsection (8) of section 760.10, Florida Statutes, are
   98  amended to read:
   99         760.10 Unlawful employment practices.—
  100         (1) It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer:
  101         (a) To discharge or to fail or refuse to hire any
  102  individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual
  103  with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges
  104  of employment, because of such individual’s race, color,
  105  religion, sex, height, weight, pregnancy, national origin, age,
  106  handicap, or marital status.
  107         (b) To limit, segregate, or classify employees or
  108  applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend
  109  to deprive any individual of employment opportunities, or
  110  adversely affect any individual’s status as an employee, because
  111  of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, height, weight,
  112  pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, or marital status.
  113         (2) It is an unlawful employment practice for an employment
  114  agency to fail or refuse to refer for employment, or otherwise
  115  to discriminate against, any individual because of race, color,
  116  religion, sex, height, weight, pregnancy, national origin, age,
  117  handicap, or marital status or to classify or refer for
  118  employment any individual on the basis of race, color, religion,
  119  sex, height, weight, pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap,
  120  or marital status.
  121         (3) It is an unlawful employment practice for a labor
  122  organization:
  123         (a) To exclude or to expel from its membership, or
  124  otherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of
  125  race, color, religion, sex, height, weight, pregnancy, national
  126  origin, age, handicap, or marital status.
  127         (b) To limit, segregate, or classify its membership or
  128  applicants for membership, or to classify or fail or refuse to
  129  refer for employment any individual, in any way that would
  130  deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment
  131  opportunities, or adversely affect any individual’s status as an
  132  employee or as an applicant for employment, because of such
  133  individual’s race, color, religion, sex, height, weight,
  134  pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, or marital status.
  135         (4) It is an unlawful employment practice for any employer,
  136  labor organization, or joint labor-management committee
  137  controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining,
  138  including on-the-job training programs, to discriminate against
  139  any individual because of race, color, religion, sex, height,
  140  weight, pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, or marital
  141  status in admission to, or employment in, any program
  142  established to provide apprenticeship or other training.
  143         (5) Whenever, in order to engage in a profession,
  144  occupation, or trade, it is required that a person receive a
  145  license, certification, or other credential, become a member or
  146  an associate of any club, association, or other organization, or
  147  pass any examination, it is an unlawful employment practice for
  148  any person to discriminate against any other person seeking such
  149  license, certification, or other credential, seeking to become a
  150  member or associate of such club, association, or other
  151  organization, or seeking to take or pass such examination,
  152  because of such other person’s race, color, religion, sex,
  153  height, weight, pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, or
  154  marital status.
  155         (6) It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer,
  156  labor organization, employment agency, or joint labor-management
  157  committee to print, or cause to be printed or published, any
  158  notice or advertisement relating to employment, membership,
  159  classification, referral for employment, or apprenticeship or
  160  other training, indicating any preference, limitation,
  161  specification, or discrimination, based on race, color,
  162  religion, sex, height, weight, pregnancy, national origin, age,
  163  absence of handicap, or marital status.
  164         (8) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, it
  165  is not an unlawful employment practice under ss. 760.01-760.10
  166  for an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint
  167  labor-management committee to:
  168         (a) Take or fail to take any action on the basis of
  169  religion, sex, height, weight, pregnancy, national origin, age,
  170  handicap, or marital status in those certain instances in which
  171  religion, sex, height, weight, condition of pregnancy, national
  172  origin, age, absence of a particular handicap, or marital status
  173  is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary
  174  for the performance of the particular employment to which such
  175  action or inaction is related.
  176         Section 7. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
  177  made by this act to section 760.10(5), Florida Statutes, in a
  178  reference thereto, subsection (1) of section 760.11, Florida
  179  Statutes, is reenacted to read:
  180         760.11 Administrative and civil remedies; construction.—
  181         (1) Any person aggrieved by a violation of ss. 760.01
  182  760.10 may file a complaint with the commission within 365 days
  183  of the alleged violation, naming the employer, employment
  184  agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee,
  185  or, in the case of an alleged violation of s. 760.10(5), the
  186  person responsible for the violation and describing the
  187  violation. Any person aggrieved by a violation of s. 509.092 may
  188  file a complaint with the commission within 365 days of the
  189  alleged violation naming the person responsible for the
  190  violation and describing the violation. The commission, a
  191  commissioner, or the Attorney General may in like manner file
  192  such a complaint. On the same day the complaint is filed with
  193  the commission, the commission shall clearly stamp on the face
  194  of the complaint the date the complaint was filed with the
  195  commission. In lieu of filing the complaint with the commission,
  196  a complaint under this section may be filed with the federal
  197  Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or with any unit of
  198  government of the state which is a fair-employment-practice
  199  agency under 29 C.F.R. ss. 1601.70-1601.80. If the date the
  200  complaint is filed is clearly stamped on the face of the
  201  complaint, that date is the date of filing. The date the
  202  complaint is filed with the commission for purposes of this
  203  section is the earliest date of filing with the Equal Employment
  204  Opportunity Commission, the fair-employment-practice agency, or
  205  the commission. The complaint shall contain a short and plain
  206  statement of the facts describing the violation and the relief
  207  sought. The commission may require additional information to be
  208  in the complaint. The commission, within 5 days of the complaint
  209  being filed, shall by registered mail send a copy of the
  210  complaint to the person who allegedly committed the violation.
  211  The person who allegedly committed the violation may file an
  212  answer to the complaint within 25 days of the date the complaint
  213  was filed with the commission. Any answer filed shall be mailed
  214  to the aggrieved person by the person filing the answer. Both
  215  the complaint and the answer shall be verified.
  216         Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.