Prohibited discrimination; public accommodations, employment, credit, and housing: causes of action; sexual orientation and gender identity. Creates explicit causes of action for unlawful discrimination in public accommodations and employment in the Virginia Human Rights Act. Currently, under the Act there is no cause of action for discrimination in public accommodations, and the only causes of action for discrimination in employment are for (i) unlawful discharge on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, including lactation, by employers employing more than five but fewer than 15 persons and (ii) unlawful discharge on the basis of age by employers employing more than five but fewer than 20 persons. The bill allows the causes of action to be pursued privately by the aggrieved person or, in certain circumstances, by the Attorney General. The bill prohibits discrimination in public and private employment on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill also codifies for state and local government employment the current prohibitions on discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, disability, or status as a veteran. Additionally, the bill (a) prohibits discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran; (b) prohibits discrimination in credit on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, disability, and status as a veteran; and (c) adds discrimination on the basis of an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or status as a veteran as an unlawful housing practice. The bill makes technical amendments. This bill incorporates HB 3, HB 21, HB 23, HB 217, HB 1050, HB 1200, and HB 1512.
Sponsored bills
Absentee voting; deadline for returning absentee ballot. Provides that any absentee ballot that is returned to the general registrar after the closing of the polls on election day but before noon on the third day after the election and postmarked on or before the date of the election shall be counted if the voter is found entitled to vote. This bill contains technical amendments and is identical to SB 455.
Inquiry and report of immigration status; certain victims or witnesses of crimes. Prohibits law-enforcement officers from inquiring into the immigration status of a person who (i) reports that he is a victim of a crime or a parent or guardian of a minor victim of a crime or (ii) is a witness in the investigation of a crime or the parent or guardian of a minor witness to a crime. However, a law-enforcement officer is not prohibited from making such an inquiry if it is necessary for the enforcement or implementation of certain criminal provisions or if the parent or guardian has been arrested for, has been charged with, or is being investigated for a crime against the minor victim.
Recounts; procedure for certain ballots.Requires recount officials to segregate all ballots for which thereis a question regarding the ballot's validity prior to the conclusionof the recount of each precinct. The bill provides that the recountcourt may not consider the validity of any ballots not set asideprior to the conclusion of the recount of each precinct.
Voting systems; voter-verifiable paper record. Requires any electronic voting system approved by the State Board of Elections to retain each printed ballot cast. Printed ballots are currently defined to include machine-readable ballots, and the bill amends the definition of a machine-readable ballot to mean a tangible ballot that is marked by a voter or by a system or device operated by voter, is available for verification by the voter at the time the ballot is cast, and is then fed into and scanned by a separate counting machine. The bill amends the requirements for sealing and delivering ballots after an election to include printed ballots; current law only addresses paper ballots.
Virginia sexual assault forensic examiner coordination program. Establishes the Virginia sexual assault forensic examiner coordination program within the Department of Criminal Justice Services. The bill provides that the program shall create and coordinate an annual statewide sexual assault forensic nurse examiner training program; coordinate the development and enhancement of sexual assault forensic examiner programs across the Commonwealth; participate in the development of hospital protocols and guidelines for treatment of survivors of sexual assault; coordinate and strengthen communications among sexual assault nurse examiner medical directors, sexual assault response teams, and hospitals for existing and developing sexual assault nurse examiner programs; provide technical assistance for existing and developing sexual assault forensic examiner programs, including local sexual assault forensic examiner training; create, maintain and share a statewide list, updated biannually, that includes pertinent information regarding sexual assault forensic examiners and nurse examiners; create sexual assault nurse examiner recruitment materials for universities and colleges with nursing programs; and support and coordinate community education and public outreach, when appropriate, relating to sexual assault nurse examiner issues for the Commonwealth. The bill includes reporting requirements for the Department of Criminal Justice Services.
Transient occupancy tax; Arlington County. Removes the July 1, 2021, sunset date from Arlington County's authority to impose a transient occupancy tax at a rate not to exceed 0.25 percent to be used for the purpose of promoting tourism and business travel in the county. Under current law, in addition to this tax, Arlington County is authorized to impose a transient occupancy tax at a rate not to exceed five percent. This bill is identical to SB 107.
Misclassification of workers; cause of action. Authorizes an individual who has not been properly classified as an employee to bring a civil action for damages against his employer for failing to properly classify the employee if the employer had knowledge of the individual's misclassification. The court may award damages in the amount of any wages, salary, employment benefits, including expenses incurred by the employee that would otherwise have been covered by insurance, or other compensation lost to the individual, a reasonable attorney fee, and the costs incurred by the employee in bringing the action. The measure provides that an individual who performs services for a person for remuneration shall be presumed to be an employee unless it is shown that the individual is an independent contractor as determined under the Internal Revenue Service guidelines. This bill is identical to SB 894.
Records of marriages; identification of race. Eliminates the requirement that the race of married parties be included in marriage records, divorce reports, and annulment reports filed with the State Registrar. The bill also removes the requirement that the State Registrar include race data in the compilation and posting of marriage, divorce, and annulment data. This bill incorporates HB 141, HB 1158, and HB 1425 and is identical to SB 62 and SB 1066.
Virginia Telephone Privacy Protection Act. Provides that for the purposes of the Virginia Telephone Privacy Act (the Act), "telephone solicitation call" includes any text message sent to any wireless telephone with a Virginia area code, or to a wireless telephone registered to any natural person who is a resident of the Commonwealth, for the purpose of offering or advertising any property, goods, or services for sale, lease, license, or investment, including offering or advertising an extension of credit or for the purpose of fraudulent activity. The bill prohibits a telephone solicitor from engaging in any conduct that results in the display of false or misleading caller identification information on the called party's telephone. The bill increases the amount of damages and the amount of the civil penalty for violations of the Act from $500 for each such violation to $500 for a first violation, $1,000 for a second violation, and $5,000 for each subsequent violation and increases to $5,000 the maximum civil penalty the court may impose for a willful first or second violation. This bill is identical to SB 812.