Rosen among co-sponsors of Warren bill to make companies report sexual harassment judgments

Nevada’s Jacky Rosen is one of seven Senate Democrats who have joined primary sponsor Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in introducing the “Sunlight in Workplace Harassment Act, which would amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require large, public corporations to report all settlements and judgments related to incidents of discrimination, harassment, and sexual abuse each year publicly. 

Women file 78.2% of sexual harassment in the workplace claims according to a report by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, for the fiscal years 2018 to 2020.  Nevada was in the top 10 states nationwide for sexual harassment charges for those 16 years and older during those fiscal years.  

“As the nation’s largest companies try to hide behind private settlements, Congress has a responsibility to improve transparency and create a safe working environment for everyone,” Rosen said in a press release. 

The legislation would provide investors with information on a public company’s history of sexual abuse, harassment, or discrimination based on race, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, service, gender identity, or sexual orientation in public companies, according to a press release from Williams’s office. 

It would also require public companies to disclose information on sexual harassment publicly including sexual abuse or harassment or discrimination settlements and judgments, the total dollar amount paid in those settlements, the date or dates of the alleged incident(s), the time it takes a company to resolve a complaint, and the total number of complaints a company is actively resolving.

The bill would protect the privacy of victims by providing them with an option to limit the details of their disputes and prohibit the disclosure of their names. 

The legislation was endorsed by the National Organization for Women, Feminist Majority, the Arc of the United States, Human Rights Campaign, Equal Rights Advocates, American Association for Justice, Action Centre for Race & the Economy, Public Citizen, Futures Without Violence, Americans for Financial Reform, the National Women’s Law Center, the National Partnership for Women & Families and the National Employment Lawyers Association.

Along with Rosen, the other senators who have signed on as co-sponsors of Warren’s bill are Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). 

The bill was referred to the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on May 1.