Text of FL H 599 (2024)

HB 599 2024 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb0599-00 Page 1 of 6 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S A bill to be entitled 1 An act relating to gender identity employment 2 practices; creating s. 110.1051, F.S.; providing 3 definitions; specifying an employment policy of the 4 state relating to a person's sex; providing 5 applicability; prohibiting employees and contractors 6 of certain employers from being required to use, from 7 providing, and from being asked to provide certain 8 titles and pronouns; prohibiting employees and 9 contractors from being penalized or subjected to 10 certain actions for not providing certain titles and 11 pronouns; prohibiting adverse personnel action on the 12 basis of deeply held religious or biology-based 13 beliefs; providing administrative and civil remedies; 14 authorizing the Department of Management Services to 15 adopt rules; amending s. 760.10, F.S.; providing that 16 it is an unlawful employment practice for a nonprofit 17 organization and certain employers to require certain 18 training, instruction, or activity as a condition of 19 employment; defining the term "nonprofit 20 organization"; reenacting s. 760.11(1) and (15), F.S., 21 relating to administrative and civil remedies, to 22 incorporate the amendment made to s. 760.10, F.S., in 23 references thereto; providing an effective date. 24 25 HB 599 2024 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb0599-00 Page 2 of 6 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 26 27 Section 1. Section 110.1051, Florida Statutes, is created 28 to read: 29 110.1051 Personal titles and pronouns.— 30 (1) As used in this section, the term: 31 (a) "Adverse personnel action" means the discharge, 32 suspension, transfer, or demotion of an employee or a contractor 33 or the withholding of bonuses, the reduction in salary or 34 benefits, or any other adverse action taken against an employee 35 or a contractor within the terms and conditions of employment by 36 an employer. 37 (b) "Contractor" means an individual, partnership, 38 corporation, or business entity that enters or attempts to enter 39 into a contract for services with an employer. 40 (c) "Employee" means an individual employed by, or 41 attempting to be employed by, an employer. 42 (d) "Employer" means the state or any county, 43 municipality, or special district or any subdivision or agency 44 thereof. 45 (e) "Sex" means the classification of a person as either 46 female or male based on the organization of the body of such 47 person for a specific reproductive role, as indicated by the 48 person's sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, and 49 internal and external genitalia present at birth. 50 HB 599 2024 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb0599-00 Page 3 of 6 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S (2) It is the policy of the state that a person's sex is 51 an immutable biological trait and that it is false to ascribe to 52 a person a pronoun that does not correspond to such person's 53 sex. This section does not apply to individuals born with a 54 genetically or biochemically verifiable disorder of sex 55 development, including, but not limited to, 46, XX disorder of 56 sex development; 46, XY disorder of sex development; sex 57 chromosome disorder of sex development; XX or XY sex reversal; 58 and ovotesticular disorder. 59 (3) An employee or a contractor may not be required, as a 60 condition of employment, to refer to another person using that 61 person's preferred personal title or pronouns if such personal 62 title or pronouns do not correspond to that person's sex. 63 (4) An employee or a contractor may not provide to an 64 employer his or her preferred personal title or pronouns if such 65 preferred personal title or pronouns do not correspond to his or 66 her sex. 67 (5) An employee or a contractor may not be asked by an 68 employer to provide his or her preferred personal title or 69 pronouns or be penalized or subjected to adverse personnel 70 action for not providing his or her preferred personal title or 71 pronouns. 72 (6)(a) It is an unlawful employment practice for an 73 employer to take adverse personnel action against an employee or 74 a contractor because of the employee's or contractor's deeply 75 HB 599 2024 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb0599-00 Page 4 of 6 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S held religious or biology-based beliefs, including a belief in 76 traditional or Biblical views of sexuality and marriage, or the 77 employee's or contractor's disagreement with gender ideology, 78 whether those views are expressed by the employee or contractor 79 at or away from the worksite. 80 (b) An employee or a contractor aggrieved by a violation 81 of this subsection may avail himself or herself to the 82 administrative and civil remedies provided in s. 760.11. 83 (7) The Department of Management Services may adopt rules 84 to administer this section. 85 Section 2. Subsections (10) and (11) of section 760.10, 86 Florida Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (11) and (12), 87 respectively, and a new subsection (10) is added to that 88 section, to read: 89 760.10 Unlawful employment practices.— 90 (10) It is an unlawful employment practice for a nonprofit 91 organization or an employer who receives funding from the state 92 to require, as a condition of employment, any training, 93 instruction, or other activity on sexual orientation, gender 94 identity, or gender expression. For purposes of this subsection, 95 the term "nonprofit organization" means any organization that is 96 exempt from taxation pursuant to 26 U.S.C. s. 501, or any 97 federal, state, or local governmental entity. 98 Section 3. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 99 made by this act to section 760.10, Florida Statutes, in a 100 HB 599 2024 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb0599-00 Page 5 of 6 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S reference thereto, Subsections (1) and (15) of section 760.11, 101 Florida Statutes, are reenacted to read: 102 760.11 Administrative and civil remedies; construction.— 103 (1) Any person aggrieved by a violation of ss. 760.01- 104 760.10 may file a complaint with the commission within 365 days 105 of the alleged violation, naming the employer, employment 106 agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee, 107 or, in the case of an alleged violation of s. 760.10(5), the 108 person responsible for the violation and describing the 109 violation. Any person aggrieved by a violation of s. 509.092 may 110 file a complaint with the commission within 365 days of the 111 alleged violation naming the person responsible for the 112 violation and describing the violation. The commission, a 113 commissioner, or the Attorney General may in like manner file 114 such a complaint. On the same day the complaint is filed with 115 the commission, the commission shall clearly stamp on the face 116 of the complaint the date the complaint was filed with the 117 commission. In lieu of filing the complaint with the commission, 118 a complaint under this section may be filed with the federal 119 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or with any unit of 120 government of the state which is a fair-employment-practice 121 agency under 29 C.F.R. ss. 1601.70-1601.80. If the date the 122 complaint is filed is clearly stamped on the face of the 123 complaint, that date is the date of filing. The date the 124 complaint is filed with the commission for purposes of this 125 HB 599 2024 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. hb0599-00 Page 6 of 6 F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S section is the earliest date of filing with the Equal Employment 126 Opportunity Commission, the fair-employment-practice agency, or 127 the commission. The complaint shall contain a short and plain 128 statement of the facts describing the violation and the relief 129 sought. The commission may require additional information to be 130 in the complaint. The commission, within 5 days of the complaint 131 being filed, shall by registered mail send a copy of the 132 complaint to the person who allegedly committed the violation. 133 The person who allegedly committed the violation may file an 134 answer to the complaint within 25 days of the date the complaint 135 was filed with the commission. Any answer filed shall be mailed 136 to the aggrieved person by the person filing the answer. Both 137 the complaint and the answer shall be verified. 138 (15) In any civil action or administrative proceeding 139 brought pursuant to this section, a finding that a person 140 employed by the state or any governmental entity or agency has 141 violated s. 760.10 shall as a matter of law constitute just or 142 substantial cause for such person's discharge. 143 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 144