Florida Senate - 2014                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 220
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì564276AÎ564276                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                   Comm: WD            .                                
                  03/12/2014           .                                
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    1         Senate Amendment to Amendment (409726) (with title
    2  amendment)
    3  
    4         Delete lines 5 - 160
    5  and insert:
    6         Section 7. Subsections (1), (5), and (8) of section 760.11,
    7  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
    8         760.11 Administrative and civil remedies; construction.—
    9         (1) Any person aggrieved by a violation of ss. 760.01
   10  760.10 may file a complaint with the commission within 365 days
   11  after of the alleged violation, naming the employer, employment
   12  agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee,
   13  or, in the case of an alleged violation of s. 760.10(5), the
   14  person responsible for the violation and describing the
   15  violation. Any person aggrieved by a violation of s. 509.092 may
   16  file a complaint with the commission within 365 days after of
   17  the alleged violation naming the person responsible for the
   18  violation and describing the violation. The commission, a
   19  commissioner, or the Attorney General may in like manner file
   20  such a complaint. On the same day the complaint is filed with
   21  the commission, the commission shall clearly stamp on the face
   22  of the complaint the date the complaint was filed with the
   23  commission. In lieu of filing the complaint with the commission,
   24  a complaint under this section may be filed with the federal
   25  Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or with any unit of
   26  government of the state which is a fair-employment-practice
   27  agency under 29 C.F.R. ss. 1601.70-1601.80. If the date the
   28  complaint is filed is clearly stamped on the face of the
   29  complaint, that date is the date of filing. The date the
   30  complaint is filed with the commission for purposes of this
   31  section is the earliest date of filing with the Equal Employment
   32  Opportunity Commission, the fair-employment-practice agency, or
   33  the commission. The complaint shall contain a short and plain
   34  statement of the facts describing the violation and the relief
   35  sought. The commission may require additional information to be
   36  in the complaint. The commission, within 5 days after of the
   37  complaint being filed, shall by registered mail send a copy of
   38  the complaint to the person who allegedly committed the
   39  violation. The person who allegedly committed the violation may
   40  file an answer to the complaint within 25 days after of the date
   41  the complaint was filed with the commission. Any answer filed
   42  shall be mailed to the aggrieved person by the person filing the
   43  answer. Both the complaint and the answer shall be verified.
   44         (5)(a) In any civil action brought under this section, the
   45  court may issue an order prohibiting the discriminatory practice
   46  and providing affirmative relief from the effects of the
   47  practice, including back pay. The court may also award
   48  compensatory damages, including, but not limited to, damages for
   49  mental anguish, loss of dignity, and any other intangible
   50  injuries, and punitive damages. The provisions of ss. 768.72 and
   51  768.73 do not apply to this section. The judgment for the total
   52  amount of punitive damages awarded under this section to an
   53  aggrieved person shall not exceed $100,000. In any action or
   54  proceeding under this subsection, the court, in its discretion,
   55  may allow the prevailing party a reasonable attorney’s fee as
   56  part of the costs. It is the intent of the Legislature that this
   57  provision for attorney’s fees be interpreted in a manner
   58  consistent with federal case law involving a Title VII action.
   59  The right to trial by jury is preserved in any such private
   60  right of action in which the aggrieved person is seeking
   61  compensatory or punitive damages, and any party may demand a
   62  trial by jury. The commission’s determination of reasonable
   63  cause is not admissible into evidence in any civil proceeding,
   64  including any hearing or trial, except to establish for the
   65  court the right to maintain the private right of action. A civil
   66  action brought under this section shall be commenced no later
   67  than 90 days 1 year after the date of determination of
   68  reasonable cause by the commission. The commencement of such
   69  action shall divest the commission of jurisdiction of the
   70  complaint, except that the commission may intervene in the civil
   71  action as a matter of right. Notwithstanding the above, the
   72  state and its agencies and subdivisions are shall not be liable
   73  for punitive damages. The total amount of recovery against the
   74  state and its agencies and subdivisions may shall not exceed the
   75  limitation as set forth in s. 768.28(5).
   76         (b) The judgment for the total amount of punitive damages
   77  and the amount of compensatory damages for future pecuniary
   78  losses, emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental
   79  anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other nonpecuniary
   80  losses awarded under this section to an aggrieved person may not
   81  exceed:
   82         1. For a respondent with at least 15 but not more than 100
   83  employees in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or
   84  preceding calendar year, $50,000.
   85         2. For a respondent with at least 101 but not more than 200
   86  employees in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or
   87  preceding calendar year, $100,000.
   88         3. For a respondent with at least 201 but not more than 500
   89  employees in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or
   90  preceding calendar year, $200,000.
   91         4. For a respondent with more than 500 employees in each of
   92  20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar
   93  year, $300,000.
   94         (8) If In the event that the commission fails to conciliate
   95  or determine whether there is reasonable cause on any complaint
   96  under this section within 180 days after of the filing of the
   97  complaint, an aggrieved person may proceed under subsection (4),
   98  as if the commission determined that there were was reasonable
   99  cause, and may commence a civil action against the person named
  100  in the complaint in any court of competent jurisdiction no later
  101  than 270 days after the complaint was filed.
  102  
  103  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  104  And the title is amended as follows:
  105         Delete lines 166 - 173
  106  and insert:
  107         pregnancy; amending s. 760.11, F.S.; revising the
  108         required commencement dates of certain civil actions
  109         brought under the act; revising the amount of punitive
  110         and compensatory damages recoverable by an aggrieved
  111         person for violations of