In a surprising move, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law three bills: Senate Bill 45 (“S.B. 45”), Senate Bill 282 (“S.B. 282”), and House Bill 21 (“H.B. 21), that will extend protections for sexual harassment victims in the workplace. Each bill took effect on September 1, 2021, revising vital parts of the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (“the Act”). Key changes include expanding the definition of employer to include businesses with at least one employee, broadening the class of tortfeasors to include individuals such as supervisors for failure to take immediate corrective action, increasing the statutory filing period from 180 to 300 days, and prohibiting the use of taxpayer dollars to pay sexual harassment awards against appointed or elected officials and their staff. While the standard for other forms of discrimination such as race, national origin, sexual orientation, and religion have gone unchanged, the focus on protecting sexual harassment victims suggests that the #MeToo movement has permeated into the Texas legislature.

Who Qualifies as an Employer?

Previously, Chapter 21 of the Act defined an employer as a person “who has 15 or more employees,” consistent with the federal definition. Currently, thirteen states require an employer to have fifteen or more employees before an employee can file with their state or local agency. Another twenty states require an employer to have from two to eight employees to be potentially liable for discriminatory...

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