Tucked inside legislation awaiting action by the state House sit significant changes to Connecticut's employment discrimination statute, the Fair Employment Practices Act.
Section 11 of SB 5 repeals Connecticut’s current employment discrimination law and replaces it with new language proposed to take effect Oct. 1, 2022.
The section changes the definition of “employer,” adds a new category to the list of protected classes, changes the definition of “sexual harassment,” and changes an employee’s burden of proof in hostile work environment cases.
As originally drafted, the bill also significantly limited the terms an employer may include in employment discrimination settlement agreements, essentially rendering them worthless.
The settlement agreement language was removed from the bill before the state Senate approved it April 27.
The new statutory language changes the definition of “employer,” to include any person with just one employee, rather than three or more.
It also adds a new category to the list of classes protected from discrimination to include victims of domestic violence.
Most significantly, the bill changes how hostile environment cases are litigated and proven.
Section 11 of the bill adds a new subparagraph (e) to CGS 46a-60, which includes three important changes to an employee’s burden of proof in discrimination cases.
The added paragraph provides that:
A federal judge found that Trump administration officials spread false information to justify firing Mary Comans. Viral Halloween science experiment creates a floating ghost2027 Social Security ben...