Attorney Holly Williams recently traveled to Austin to testify before the House Select Committee on Workforce in support of HB 5400. The bill would amend the Texas Labor Code, allowing victims of sexual harassment in the workplace to file a lawsuit without first submitting a complaint to the Texas Workforce Commission. Other reforms would include eliminating the cap on compensatory and punitive damages, extending the statute of limitations to two years, and strengthens protections for those who report instances of harassment.
You can read Ms. Williams’ testimony below.
“Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee,
My name is Holly Williams. I am Secretary of the Texas Employment Lawyers Association. I am Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. I have been practicing law in my hometown of Midland, Texas for over 30 years. I represent clients within about a 200-mile radius of Midland-Odessa.
I urge you to support HB 5400.
I am here to provide two concrete examples of clients who would have been helped by this legislation. One client received a verdict of $600,000 in a sex discrimination and harassment case against a Fortune 500 company in federal court in Midland. The Company’s total revenue in 2013 was $55.4 billion and net profit was over $5 billion.
The verdict of $600,000 was immediately reduced to $450,000 because the highest cap for mental anguish and punitive damages combined is $300,000. The current damages caps under Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code are the same as under federal law so there was no advantage to suing under Texas law.
Another client received a verdict of over $1 million dollars in a pregnancy discrimination and sexual harassment case in federal court in Midland. This case was against an employer of fewer than 100 employees. Therefore, the verdict was immediately reduced to $175,000.
These automatic reductions do not reflect the will of the jury, the conscience of our community, and deprive the victims of harassment of just compensation.
I urge you to vote in favor of HB 5400.”