anti-discrimination/LGBT/hate crime

Introduced by: Mark D. Sickles | all patrons ... notes | add to my profiles SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED: 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

Introduced by: Delores L. McQuinn | all patrons ... notes | add to my profiles SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED: Virginia Human Rights Act; racial discrimination; hair. Provides that the terms "because of race" and "on the basis of race," and terms of similar import, when used in reference to discrimination in the Code of Virginia and acts of the General Assembly, include traits historically associated with race, including hair texture, hair type, and protective hairstyles such as braids, locks, and twists.

Introduced by: Vivian E. Watts | all patrons ... notes | add to my profiles SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED: Virginia Human Rights Act; discrimination on the basis of sex; sexual harassment. Creates a cause of action against any employer employing more than five but fewer than 15 persons who engages in an unlawful discriminatory act against any employee on the basis of sex. Under current law, an employee who has been discriminated against on the basis of sex may only file an action against his employer if the employee is discharged by the employer on the basis of sex. The bill permits a court, in cases where the employee prevails, to award compensatory or punitive damages and attorney fees not to exceed 25 percent

Introduced by: Don L. Scott | all patrons ... notes | add to my profiles SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED: Apprenticeship program; discrimination. Prohibits a sponsor of a registered apprenticeship program from discriminating against an apprentice or applicant for apprenticeship on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, or disability. The measure conforms Virginia's apprenticeship nondiscrimination requirements to those required for state apprenticeship agencies pursuant to federal Office of Apprenticeship regulations adopted in 2016.

Introduced by: Luke E. Torian | all patrons ... notes | add to my profiles SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED: Community Policing Act; data collection and reporting requirement. Prohibits law-enforcement officers and State Police officers from engaging in bias-based profiling, defined in the bill, in the performance of their official duties. The bill directs the Department of State Police to create the Community Policing Reporting Database into which sheriffs, police forces, and State Police officers report certain data pertaining to motor vehicle or investigatory stops. The Department is directed to use the database to collect and analyze motor vehicle and investigatory stops and records of complaints alleging the use of excessive force. The data analysis shall be used to determine the existence and prevalence of the practice of bias-based profiling and the prevalence of complaints alleging the use of excessive force. The bill requires that each time a local law-enforcement officer or State Police officer stops a driver of a motor vehicle the officer collect the following data: (i) the race, ethnicity, age, and gender of the person stopped; (ii) the reason for the stop; (iii) the location of the stop; (iv) whether a warning, written citation, or summons was issued or whether any persons were arrested; (v) if a warning, written citation, or summons was issued or an arrest was made, the warning provided, violation charged, or crime charged; and (vi) whether the vehicle or any person was searched. Each state and local law-enforcement agency shall also collect and report to the State Police the number of complaints the agency receives alleging the use of excessive force. The