HB 6861 Summary

• Requires each state employer to adopt a zero-tolerance policy prohibiting managerial discrimination and retaliation against employees who report workplace discrimination, effective January 1, 2024.

• Provides employees who sue for discrimination violations the right to recover double damages for employment losses and establishes an irrebuttable presumption of irreparable harm in termination cases, with no requirement to exhaust administrative remedies.

• Creates a Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer appointed by an Equity Advisory Committee to oversee transformative hiring processes in state government.

• Requires state agency commissioners to assess diversity needs within 30 days and submit plans within three months to address recruitment, retention, and racial and gender disparities in hiring.

• Establishes an Office of the Racial Justice Ombudsperson within the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, effective January 1, 2024, to implement antiracist hiring practices, eliminate systemic racism in state employment, and review discipline and complaint investigation disparities by employee race.