Bill Text: IA SF455 | 2019-2020 | 88th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to restitution for claims arising from state employees committing unfair or discriminatory employment practices, including personal liability insurance requirements.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-06 - Subcommittee: Whiting, Celsi, and Schultz. S.J. 485. [SF455 Detail]
Download: Iowa-2019-SF455-Introduced.html
Senate
File
455
-
Introduced
SENATE
FILE
455
BY
CELSI
A
BILL
FOR
An
Act
relating
to
restitution
for
claims
arising
from
state
1
employees
committing
unfair
or
discriminatory
employment
2
practices,
including
personal
liability
insurance
3
requirements.
4
BE
IT
ENACTED
BY
THE
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
OF
THE
STATE
OF
IOWA:
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455
Section
1.
NEW
SECTION
.
7E.9
Personal
liability
insurance
1
requirements.
2
Each
head
of
a
department
and
each
director
or
administrator
3
of
an
independent
agency
shall,
as
a
condition
of
their
4
appointment
or
selection
for
that
position,
obtain
personal
5
liability
insurance,
in
such
amount
as
determined
by
the
office
6
of
the
attorney
general,
to
insure
against
any
claim
that
7
the
person
committed
an
unfair
or
discriminatory
employment
8
practice
in
violation
of
state
or
federal
law.
9
Sec.
2.
Section
669.21,
subsection
2,
Code
2019,
is
amended
10
by
adding
the
following
new
paragraph:
11
NEW
PARAGRAPH
.
c.
The
duty
to
indemnify
and
hold
harmless
12
shall
not
apply
if
the
employee
is
accused
of
committing
an
13
unfair
or
discriminatory
employment
practice
in
violation
of
14
state
or
federal
law.
If
the
employee
is
accused
of
committing
15
an
unfair
or
discriminatory
employment
practice
in
violation
of
16
state
or
federal
law
and
the
accusation
results
in
an
award
by
17
a
court,
the
duty
to
compensate
the
plaintiff
shall
apply,
but
18
the
state
shall
seek
restitution
from
the
employee.
19
Sec.
3.
Section
669.22,
Code
2019,
is
amended
to
read
as
20
follows:
21
669.22
Actions
in
federal
court.
22
1.
The
state
shall
defend
any
employee,
and
shall
indemnify
23
and
hold
harmless
an
employee
of
the
state
in
any
action
24
commenced
in
federal
court
under
42
U.S.C.
§1983
against
the
25
employee
for
acts
of
the
employee
while
acting
in
the
scope
26
of
employment.
The
duty
to
indemnify
and
hold
harmless
shall
27
not
apply
and
the
state
shall
be
entitled
to
restitution
28
from
an
employee
if
the
employee
fails
to
cooperate
in
the
29
investigation
or
defense
of
the
claim
or
demand,
or
if,
in
30
an
action
commenced
by
the
state
against
the
employee,
it
is
31
determined
that
the
conduct
of
the
employee
upon
which
the
32
claim
or
demand
was
based
constituted
a
willful
and
wanton
act
33
or
omission
or
malfeasance
in
office.
34
2.
The
duty
to
indemnify
and
hold
harmless
shall
not
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apply
if
the
employee
is
accused
of
committing
an
unfair
or
1
discriminatory
employment
practice
in
violation
of
federal
2
law.
If
the
employee
is
accused
of
committing
an
unfair
or
3
discriminatory
employment
practice
in
violation
of
federal
law
4
and
the
accusation
results
in
an
award
by
a
court,
the
duty
to
5
compensate
the
plaintiff
shall
apply,
but
the
state
shall
seek
6
restitution
from
the
employee.
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
Under
current
law,
the
state
has
waived
sovereign
immunity
11
for
certain
tort
claims,
which
are
defined
as
monetary,
12
pursuant
to
the
Iowa
tort
claims
Act,
Code
chapter
669.
Under
13
current
law,
if
a
state
employee
is
acting
within
the
scope
of
14
the
employee’s
office
or
employment,
the
state
will
defend
and
15
will
indemnify
and
hold
harmless
the
employee
or
substitute
16
as
the
defendant
in
place
of
the
state
employee.
Thus
under
17
current
law,
unless
the
employee
is
acting
outside
the
scope
18
of
the
employee’s
office
or
employment,
the
employee
is
not
19
personally
liable
for
torts.
20
In
accordance
with
the
Iowa
civil
rights
Act,
Code
chapter
21
216,
and
federal
law,
it
is
unlawful
for
state
employees
to
22
engage
in
unfair
or
discriminatory
employment
practices.
23
Under
the
bill,
the
state
will
defend,
but
will
not
indemnify
24
and
hold
harmless
a
defendant
state
employee
if
the
claims
25
arise
out
of
the
employee
committing
unfair
or
discriminatory
26
employment
practices
in
violation
of
state
or
federal
law.
27
Under
the
bill,
if
a
state
employee
is
accused
of
employment
28
discrimination
and
it
results
in
an
award
by
a
court,
the
29
state
would
pay
the
award
but
then
would
be
required
to
30
seek
restitution
from
the
offending
state
employee.
The
31
result
would
allow
the
plaintiff
to
receive
an
award
from
32
the
state
but
would
require
the
state
to
recover
as
much
of
33
a
court-ordered
award
as
possible
from
the
offending
state
34
employee.
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455
In
addition,
new
Code
section
7E.9
requires
each
department
1
head
and
director
or
administrator
of
an
independent
agency
2
to
obtain
personal
liability
insurance
to
insure
against
any
3
claim
that
the
person
committed
an
unfair
or
discriminatory
4
employment
practice
in
violation
of
law.
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