House Study Bill 129 - Introduced HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY BILL BY CHAIRPERSON BALTIMORE) A BILL FOR An Act relating to the procedure for obtaining an 1 administrative release from the Iowa civil rights 2 commission. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 2425YC (2) 87 tr/rj

H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 216.16, Code 2017, is amended to read as 1 follows: 2 216.16 Sixty-day administrative release Release to file 3 private action in district court . 4 1. A person claiming to be aggrieved by an unfair or 5 discriminatory practice must shall initially , and as a 6 jurisdictional prerequisite to any action for relief in the 7 district court, seek an administrative relief by filing a 8 complaint with the commission in accordance with section 9 216.15 . This provision also applies to persons claiming to be 10 aggrieved by an unfair or discriminatory practice committed by 11 the state or an agency or political subdivision of the state, 12 notwithstanding the terms of the Iowa administrative procedure 13 Act, chapter 17A . 14 2. a. After the proper filing of a complaint with the 15 commission, a complainant may subsequently commence an action 16 for relief in the district court if all of the following 17 conditions have been satisfied: 18 a. (1) The complainant has timely filed the complaint with 19 the commission as provided in section 216.15, subsection 13 . 20 b. (2) The complaint has been on file with the commission 21 for at least sixty days and the commission has issued a release 22 to the complainant pursuant to subsection 3 . 23 3. a. Upon a request by the complainant, and 24 (3) The action for relief in district court is filed within 25 ninety days after the expiration issuance by the commission 26 of sixty days from the timely filing a release pursuant to 27 subsection 3. 28 b. If one or more of a complaint with the commission, the 29 commission shall issue to the complainant a the conditions 30 in paragraph “a” have not been met, an action for relief 31 in district court is barred for lack of subject matter 32 jurisdiction. 33 3. A release stating that the complainant has a right to 34 commence an action in the district court . A release shall be 35 -1- LSB 2425YC (2) 87 tr/rj 1/ 3

H.F. _____ issued upon the occurrence of either of the following: 1 a. The complainant’s request for a release during the 2 commission’s investigation, provided the complaint has been on 3 file with the commission for at least sixty days. 4 b. The complaint is closed as an administrative closure. 5 4. A release under this subsection 3 shall not be issued if 6 any of the following apply: 7 (1) a. A finding of no probable cause has been made on the 8 complaint by the administrative law judge charged with that 9 duty under section 216.15, subsection 3 . 10 (2) b. A conciliation agreement has been executed under 11 section 216.15 . 12 (3) c. The commission has served notice of hearing upon the 13 respondent pursuant to section 216.15, subsection 6 . 14 (4) The complaint is closed as an administrative closure and 15 two years have elapsed since the issuance date of the closure. 16 b. 5. Notwithstanding section 216.15, subsection 5 , a party 17 may obtain a copy of all documents contained in a case file 18 where the commission has issued a release to the complainant 19 pursuant to this subsection 3 . 20 4. 6. An action authorized under this section is barred , 21 and the district court lacks subject matter jurisdiction over 22 such action, unless such action is commenced within ninety days 23 after issuance by the commission of a release under subsection 24 3 . If a complainant obtains a release from the commission 25 under subsection 3 , the commission is barred from further 26 action on that complaint. 27 5. 7. Venue for an action under this section shall be in 28 the county in which the respondent resides or has its principal 29 place of business, or in the county in which the alleged unfair 30 or discriminatory practice occurred. 31 6. 8. The district court may grant any relief in an action 32 under this section which is authorized by section 216.15, 33 subsection 9 , to be issued by the commission. The district 34 court may also award the respondent reasonable attorney fees 35 -2- LSB 2425YC (2) 87 tr/rj 2/ 3

H.F. _____ and court costs when the court finds that the complainant’s 1 action was frivolous. 2 7. 9. It is the legislative intent of this chapter that 3 every complaint be at least preliminarily screened during the 4 first one hundred twenty days. 5 8. 10. This section does not authorize administrative 6 closures if an investigation is warranted. 7 EXPLANATION 8 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 9 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 10 This bill modifies the procedure required to be followed 11 before a person can pursue a private action in district court 12 regarding an unfair or discriminatory practice under Code 13 chapter 216, the Iowa civil rights Act. 14 Under current Code section 216.16, a person pursuing relief 15 from an alleged unfair or discriminatory practice must file a 16 complaint with the Iowa civil rights commission. The person 17 may request an administrative release after a timely filed 18 complaint has been on file with the commission for 60 days. 19 The bill requires a person to file an action for relief in 20 district court within 90 days of issuance of the release by the 21 commission. Correspondingly, the bill also removes the current 22 restriction that the commission cannot issue an administrative 23 release relating to a complaint that has been administratively 24 closed for two years. 25 -3- LSB 2425YC (2) 87 tr/rj 3/ 3