Elijah Cummings' Workforce antidiscrimination bill sails through House

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The House of Representatives passed by voice vote a bill that would codify stronger antidiscrimination protections for federal employees.

The Federal Employee Anti-Discrimination Act, introduced in January by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, seeks to bolster anti-discrimination laws enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and to expand agency accountability in disclosing and enforcing requirements in instances where discrimination and retaliation have occurred.

The bill is cosponsored by Reps. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), James F. Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas). Former House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) was also a cosponsor before resigning from Congress.

Specifically, the bill directs the head of an agency's Equal Employment Opportunity program to report directly to the agency head, and directs agencies to publish all findings involving instances of discrimination, harassment or retaliation on their website for a year "in a clear and prominent location." [MORE]