Lawmakers seek to give Californians 3 years to file sex harassment complaints

The California State Assembly meets on the first day of the 2018 session at the Capitol in Sacramento on Jan. 3, 2018. Lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday that gives Californians three years to file complaints with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing over sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace or in the housing market. less The California State Assembly meets on the first day of the 2018 session at the Capitol in Sacramento on Jan. 3, 2018. Lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday that gives Californians three years to file complaints ... more Photo: Steve Yeater, Associated Press Photo: Steve Yeater, Associated Press Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Lawmakers seek to give Californians 3 years to file sex harassment complaints 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

SACRAMENTO — Lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday that would give Californians three years to file complaints with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing over sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace or in the housing market.

“The recent accounts of sexual harassment, both inside and outside the Capitol community, have made it very clear that we have not done enough,” said Assemblywoman Eloise Reyes, D-San Bernardino, who introduced AB1970 with Assemblywomen Laura Friedman, D-Glendale (Los Angeles County), and Marie Waldron, R-Escondido (San Diego County). Current law gives Californians one year from the day of the harassment to file a complaint.

The bill is part of a push by California lawmakers this year to respond to widespread allegations of workplace sexual harassment and abuse — including under their own dome.

A bill to provide whistle-blower protections to legislative employees is moving forward after stalling for three years, and lawmakers introduced legislation to require “panic buttons” for hotel maids, better record-keeping of harassment complaints by larger companies and a ban on non-disclosure agreements in sexual harassment or assault settlements.

The lawmakers who introduced AB1970 said workers are often unaware or unprepared to file a claim with the state agency — a required precursor in order to pursue a civil lawsuit against a public or private employer — within the current one-year limitation.

“We allow a longer statute of limitations for a fender bender than we do for when you file a claim of serious sexual harassment and of discrimination in housing and the workplace,” Friedman said.

Once a complaint is filed with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the agency is required to review the claim and determine whether a full investigation is warranted. If the agency determines state anti-discrimination laws may have been violated, the victim can decide whether to have the agency conduct a full investigation and pursue a negotiated settlement out of court or they can forgo the state investigation and ask for a right-to-sue letter in order to file a civil lawsuit.

Jessica Stender, a lawyer for Equal Rights Advocates in San Francisco, said many workers don’t realize they have a limited window to file the discrimination or harassment claim.

“Many women who have survived sexual harassment at work, particularly low-wage workers, are not even aware the clock has begun to run,” Stender said.

The bills were introduced following a series of allegations that began in Hollywood as women and men came forward to accuse industry elites of sexual harassment and assault. That prompted women in other industries to step forward, including restaurant workers, hotel maids and workers in the tech industry.

In Sacramento, hundreds of women who work in politics signed a letter in October outlining pervasive harassment and abuse, prompting two assemblymen to resign and one senator to take a leave of absence following allegations.

The state Legislature will hold its first joint hearing to examine its own sexual harassment policies on Wednesday.

At the same time, several bills are moving forward. Those include:

•AB403 by Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore (Riverside County), to extend protections under the California Whistleblower Protection Act to legislative employees.

•AB1761 by Assemblymen Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance (Los Angeles County), and Bill Quirk, D-Hayward, to require hotels to provide maids with panic buttons that alert others if they feel in danger while working alone in guest rooms.

•AB1867 by Reyes to require California businesses with 50 or more employees to keep records of sexual harassment complaints for 10 years.

•SB820 by Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino (San Bernardino County), to bar public and private employers from silencing workers with non-disclosure agreements in sexual harassment and abuse settlements.

Lawmakers have until Feb. 16 to introduce bills.

“This is going to be one of many steps the Legislature is going to take this year and upcoming years to address what is clearly a widespread problem,” Friedman said.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez