REPORT TITLE:
Employment Discrimination


DESCRIPTION:
Allows insurance business employers to ask an applicant, deny a
job to an applicant, and fire an employee after employment, if
the person has been convicted of a felony involving dishonesty or
breach of trust or violated the Violent Crime Control Act of
1994.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                        3011
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The purpose of this Act is to conform Hawaii law
 
 2 to the mandate of federal law under the Violent Crime Control Act
 
 3 of 1994, 18 U.S.C. section 1033, as amended, as it affects
 
 4 employers engaged in the business of insurance in the State of
 
 5 Hawaii.
 
 6      SECTION 2.  Section 378-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 7 amended to read as follows:
 
 8      "§378-3 Exceptions.  Nothing in this part shall be deemed
 
 9 to:
 
10      (1)  Repeal or affect any law, ordinance, or government rule
 
11           having the force and effect of law;
 
12      (2)  Prohibit or prevent the establishment and maintenance
 
13           of bona fide occupational qualifications reasonably
 
14           necessary to the normal operation of a particular
 
15           business or enterprise, and that have a substantial
 
16           relationship to the functions and responsibilities of
 
17           prospective or continued employment;
 
18      (3)  Prohibit or prevent an employer, employment agency, or
 
19           labor organization from refusing to hire, refer, or
 

 
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 1           discharge any individual for reasons relating to the
 
 2           ability of the individual to perform the work in
 
 3           question;
 
 4      (4)  Affect the operation of the terms or conditions of any
 
 5           bona fide retirement, pension, employee benefit, or
 
 6           insurance plan that is not intended to evade the
 
 7           purpose of this chapter; provided that this exception
 
 8           shall not be construed to permit any employee plan to
 
 9           set a maximum age requirement for hiring or a mandatory
 
10           retirement age;
 
11      (5)  Prohibit or prevent any religious or denominational
 
12           institution or organization, or any organization
 
13           operated for charitable or educational purposes, that
 
14           is operated, supervised, or controlled by or in
 
15           connection with a religious organization, from giving
 
16           preference to individuals of the same religion or
 
17           denomination or from making a selection calculated to
 
18           promote the religious principles for which the
 
19           organization is established or maintained;
 
20      (6)  Conflict with or affect the application of security
 
21           regulations or rules in employment established by the
 
22           United States or the State;
 

 
 
 
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                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1      (7)  Require the employer to execute unreasonable structural
 
 2           changes or expensive equipment alterations to
 
 3           accommodate the employment of a person with a
 
 4           disability;
 
 5      (8)  Prohibit or prevent the department of education or
 
 6           private schools from considering criminal convictions
 
 7           in determining whether a prospective employee is suited
 
 8           to working in close proximity to children;
 
 9      (9)  Prohibit or prevent any financial institution in which
 
10           deposits are insured by a federal agency having
 
11           jurisdiction over the financial institution from
 
12           denying employment to or discharging from employment
 
13           any person who has been convicted of any criminal
 
14           offense involving dishonesty or a breach of trust,
 
15           unless it has the prior written consent of the federal
 
16           agency having jurisdiction over the financial
 
17           institution to hire or retain the person;
 
18     (10)  Preclude any employee from bringing a civil action for
 
19           sexual harassment or sexual assault and infliction of
 
20           emotional distress or invasion of privacy related
 
21           thereto; provided that notwithstanding section 368-12,
 
22           the commission shall issue a right to sue on a
 

 
 
 
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                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1           complaint filed with the commission if it determines
 
 2           that a civil action alleging similar facts has been
 
 3           filed in circuit court; [or]
 
 4      (11) Require the employer to accommodate the needs of a
 
 5           nondisabled person associated with or related to a
 
 6           person with a disability in any way not required by
 
 7           Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act[.] or
 
 8     (12)  Prohibit or prevent any employer engaged in the
 
 9           business of insurance from:
 
10           (A)  In a pre-employment pre-offer stage:
 
11                (i)  Inquiring of or ascertaining whether an
 
12                     applicant; or
 
13               (ii)  Denying employment to an applicant who; or
 
14           (B)  After employment, discharging from employment any
 
15                employee who;
 
16           has been convicted of a felony involving dishonesty or
 
17           breach of trust, or a violation of the Violent Crime
 
18           Control Act of 1994, 18 U.S.C. section 1033, as
 
19           amended.
 
20      SECTION 3.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
21 New statutory material is underscored.
 
22      SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
23 
 
24                           INTRODUCED BY:_________________________