Senators challenge harassment bill

JEFFERSON CITY — Some state senators are vowing to block a bill that critics claim would essentially legalize sexual harassment in Missouri by making it more difficult to prove discrimination.

Republican Sen. John Loudon’s bill would bar punitive damages in discrimination cases against public entities and is a response to recent court rulings involving discrimination lawsuits against public schools. But it also comes shortly after state Agriculture Director Fred Ferrell was forced to resign following claims he sexually harassed and discriminated against an employee.

Some senators suggested at a Monday night hearing that the legislation could have made it harder for employee Heather Elder to sue Ferrell, which she did Feb. 23. And Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Matt Bartle said Tuesday that he has no intention of allowing the bill to come to a vote in his committee.

The bill would change the state’s definition of discrimination by replacing its description as “any unfair treatment based on” such things as race, religion, gender or disability, with “an adverse action motivated by” those factors.

Sen. Chris Koster, R-Harrisonville, claimed the result would be that repeated words of harassment — such as Ferrell’s alleged suggestion that Elder should be in a wet-T-shirt contest — would no longer qualify as discrimination. Instead, Koster said, to pursue a case, the “adverse action” language could require something such as a firing or demotion.

“I couldn’t support this bill as it is written,” Koster said.

The Missouri Commission on Human Rights also opposed the bill, claiming its proposed changes to state discrimination law could violate federal civil rights law and jeopardize the commission’s federal funding.

Loudon said his legislation had no connection to the allegations against Ferrell and pledged Tuesday that he would work to change the “adverse action” definition of discrimination that others opposed.