discrimination damage caps get tied to inflation

The text as introduced · 376 words

89R15475 DNC-D

By: Reynolds
H.B. No. 4245

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to compensatory and punitive damage limits in employment

discrimination claims.

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

SECTION 1. Section 21.2585, Labor Code, is amended by

amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (d-1) to read as

follows:

(d) Subject to Subsection (d-1), the [ The ] sum of the amount

of compensatory damages awarded under this section for future

pecuniary losses, emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental

anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other nonpecuniary losses

and the amount of punitive damages awarded under this section may

not exceed, for each complainant:

(1) $50,000 in the case of a respondent that has fewer

than 101 employees;

(2) $100,000 in the case of a respondent that has more

than 100 and fewer than 201 employees;

(3) $200,000 in the case of a respondent that has more

than 200 and fewer than 501 employees; and

(4) $300,000 in the case of a respondent that has more

than 500 employees.

(d-1) When the consumer price index increases with respect

to the amount of that index on September 1, 2025, the limits on

damages prescribed by Subsection (d) shall be increased by a sum

equal to the amount of such limit multiplied by the percentage

increase in the consumer price index, as published by the Bureau of

Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, that

measures the average changes in prices of goods and services

purchased by urban wage earners and clerical workers' families

(CPI-W: Seasonally Adjusted U.S. City Average--All Items),

between September 1, 2025, and the time at which damages subject to

such limits are awarded by final judgment or settlement.

SECTION 2. Section 21.2585(d-1), Labor Code, as added by

this Act, applies only to a complaint in relation to an unlawful

employment practice that occurs on or after the effective date of

this Act. A complaint in relation to an unlawful employment

practice that occurs before the effective date of this Act is

governed by the law in effect on the date the unlawful employment

practice occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for

that purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.