Title
AN ACT CONCERNING HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION for the purpose of increasing the caps on compensatory damages awarded and civil fines imposed by the Human Relations Commission for civil rights violations; expanding the imposition of civil fines to any civil rights violations enumerated under Subtitle 2, Division 12 of the County Code; and granting the Commission the authority to negotiate and collect the payments of civil fines and assessments as part of the conciliation procedure.
Background
This legislation increases the caps on compensatory damages awarded and civil fines imposed by the Commission for civil rights violations. The County's cap on compensatory damages has not been amended since 1992 (see CB-48-1992). Similarly, the County's cap on civil fines has not been amended since it was first established in 1998 (see CB-4-1998). Both caps do not reflect the rising costs of enforcing civil rights laws and do not serve as a deterrent to potential or repeat violators. This legislation increases the cap on compensatory damages from $100,000 to $200,000 and increases the cap on civil fines from $5,000 to $10,000.
Additionally, this legislation expands the imposition of civil fines to any civil rights violations enumerated under Subtitle 2, Division 12 of the County Code. Currently, the Commission may only impose civil fines for cases involving employment and public accommodation discrimination.
Lastly, this legislation grants the Commission the authority to negotiate and collect the payments of civil fines and assessments as a part of the conciliation procedure. The ability to negotiate civil fines and assessments would help the Commission to recover some of the costs associated with investigations in lieu of conducting formal hearings. It would also provide an additional incentive for the respondents and the Executive Director of the Commission to settle cases without conducting a public hearing.