Full Text of HB4850 102nd General Assembly
HB4850 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022 HB4850 Introduced 1/27/2022, by Rep. Will Guzzardi SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
| 740 ILCS 82/5 | | 740 ILCS 82/11 new | | 740 ILCS 82/20 | | 740 ILCS 82/25 new | |
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Amends "An Act in relation to violence against women", approved August 5, 2003, Public Act 93-416, by adding clauses to the preamble. Amends the Gender Violence Act. Includes domestic violence in the definition of "gender-related violence". Provides that an employer shall be liable for gender-related violence committed by an employee or nonemployee if the employer, through the employer's acts or omissions, engages in: (1) encouraging or assisting in the commission of the gender-related violence by failing to
supervise, train, or monitor an employee or nonemployee; (2) having prior knowledge of an employee's or nonemployee's propensity for engaging in similar conduct but failing to
take remedial measures; (3) failing to investigate complaints or reports of similar conduct by an employee or nonemployee; or (4) otherwise failing to investigate or take remedial measures in response to complaints or reports of similar conduct by an employee or nonemployee. Requires an action based on gender-related violence relating to domestic violence to be commenced within 7 years after the cause of action accrued or, in a case where the person was a minor at the time the cause of action accrued, within 7 years of the person reaching the age of 18. Provides that no person has the power to waive any provisions of the Act as part of a dissolution of marriage agreement, civil union, domestic partnership, or custody agreement.
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning civil law.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 1. "An Act in relation to violence against women", | 5 | | approved August 5, 2003, Public Act 93-416, is amended by | 6 | | changing the preamble as follows: | 7 | | WHEREAS, Recent national studies demonstrate that women
in | 8 | | the United States continue to be greatly harmed by
| 9 | | gender-related violence such
as domestic violence, which is | 10 | | disproportionately visited
upon women by men, and sexual | 11 | | abuse, which harms many women and
children without being | 12 | | reported or prosecuted; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, It is documented that existing State and federal | 14 | | laws have not
provided adequate remedies to women survivors of
| 15 | | domestic violence and sexual abuse; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Women survivors of
domestic violence oftentimes | 17 | | have found laws against domestic
violence used against them by | 18 | | their batterers; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court has ruled that
| 20 | | the states alone have the authority to grant civil relief to
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| 1 | | the survivors of such sexually discriminatory violence; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Such acts of gender-related violence are a form
| 3 | | of sex discrimination; and therefore
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Notwithstanding the intention of the General | 5 | | Assembly when it passed the Gender Violence Act in 2003, | 6 | | courts have not uniformly applied the Gender Violence Act to | 7 | | prohibit domestic violence; and | 8 | | WHEREAS, It was the intention of the General Assembly when | 9 | | it passed the Gender Violence Act in 2003 that employers be | 10 | | held liable, based on their acts or omissions, for | 11 | | gender-motivated violence committed by their employees and | 12 | | non-employees; and | 13 | | WHEREAS, Notwithstanding the intention of the General | 14 | | Assembly when it passed the Gender Violence Act in 2003, | 15 | | courts have not uniformly applied the Gender Violence Act to | 16 | | provide for employer liability; therefore | 17 | | Section 5. The Gender Violence Act is amended by adding | 18 | | Sections 5, 11, and 20 and by adding Section 25 as follows:
| 19 | | (740 ILCS 82/5)
| 20 | | Sec. 5. Definition. In this Act,
"gender-related |
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| 1 | | violence", which is a form of sex
discrimination, means the | 2 | | following:
| 3 | | (1) One or more acts of violence or physical
| 4 | | aggression satisfying the elements of battery under the
| 5 | | laws of Illinois that are committed, at least in part, on
| 6 | | the basis of a person's sex,
whether or not those acts have | 7 | | resulted in
criminal
charges, prosecution, or conviction.
| 8 | | (2) A physical intrusion or physical invasion of a
| 9 | | sexual nature under coercive conditions satisfying the
| 10 | | elements of battery under the laws of Illinois, whether
or | 11 | | not the act or acts resulted in criminal charges,
| 12 | | prosecution, or conviction.
| 13 | | (2.5) Domestic violence, as defined in the Victims' | 14 | | Economic Security and Safety Act.
| 15 | | (3) A threat of an act described in item (1) , or
(2) , | 16 | | or (2.5) causing a realistic apprehension that the | 17 | | originator
of the threat will commit the act.
| 18 | | (Source: P.A. 93-416, eff. 1-1-04.)
| 19 | | (740 ILCS 82/11 new) | 20 | | Sec. 11. Employer liability. | 21 | | (a) An employer shall be liable for gender-related | 22 | | violence committed by an employee or nonemployee if the | 23 | | employer, through the employer's acts or omissions, engages | 24 | | in: | 25 | | (1) encouraging or assisting in the commission of the |
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| 1 | | gender-related violence by failing to
supervise, train, or | 2 | | monitor an employee or nonemployee; | 3 | | (2) having prior knowledge of an employee's or | 4 | | nonemployee's propensity for engaging in similar conduct | 5 | | but failing to
take remedial measures; | 6 | | (3) failing to investigate complaints or reports of | 7 | | similar conduct by an employee or nonemployee; or | 8 | | (4) otherwise failing to investigate or take remedial | 9 | | measures in response to complaints or reports of similar | 10 | | conduct by an employee or nonemployee. | 11 | | (b) As used in this Section: | 12 | | "Employee" and "employer" have the same meaning as used in | 13 | | Section 2-101 of the Illinois Human Rights Act. | 14 | | "Nonemployee" has the same meaning as used in Section | 15 | | 2-102 of the Illinois Human Rights Act.
| 16 | | (740 ILCS 82/20)
| 17 | | Sec. 20. Limitation. An action based on gender-related | 18 | | violence as
defined
in
paragraph (1) , or (2) , or (2.5) of | 19 | | Section 5 must be commenced within 7 years after the
cause of
| 20 | | action accrued, except that if the person entitled to bring | 21 | | the action was a
minor at the
time the cause of action accrued, | 22 | | the action must be commenced within 7 years
after the
person | 23 | | reaches the age of 18. An action based on gender-related | 24 | | violence as
defined in
paragraph (3) of Section 5 must be | 25 | | commenced within 2 years after the cause of
action
accrued, |
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| 1 | | except that if the person entitled to bring the action was a | 2 | | minor at
the time the
cause of action accrued, the action must | 3 | | be commenced within 2 years after the
person
reaches the age of | 4 | | 18.
| 5 | | (Source: P.A. 93-416, eff. 1-1-04.)
| 6 | | (740 ILCS 82/25 new) | 7 | | Sec. 25. No waiver. No person shall have the power to waive | 8 | | any of the provisions of this Act as part of a dissolution of | 9 | | marriage agreement, civil union, domestic partnership, or | 10 | | custody agreement. Any such purported waiver is considered | 11 | | against public policy, void, and severable from an otherwise | 12 | | valid and enforceable agreement.
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