Sponsors (21)
Introduced February 12, 2026 by Patty Murray · Last progress February 12, 2026
The bill substantially expands and enforces federal workplace anti‑discrimination and anti‑harassment protections and support for victims — improving safety and legal recourse for many workers — while imposing significant compliance, administrative, and litigation costs and new operational challenges for employers, contractors, governments, and some institutions.
Workers nationwide — including LGBTQ+ people, pregnant people, older workers, people with disabilities, and those in very small workplaces or working as contractors/interns/applicants — gain broader and explicit federal protections against discrimination and harassment (adds sexual orientation/gender identity, pregnancy protections, single-incident/non‑tangible-harm standards, and lowers the Title
Employees (including non‑English speakers and people with disabilities) and employers gain required, recurring education, accessible policies, model materials for small employers, and national data collection — measures intended to prevent harassment, clarify prohibited behavior, and improve workplace climate.
Victims — especially low-income people and federal employees — get expanded access to counsel, advocacy, and stronger remedies (including declaratory/injunctive relief, fee recovery in some cases, and waiver of some sovereign-immunity barriers), making it easier to pursue and enforce claims.
Small and other employers (and ultimately consumers/taxpayers) will face materially higher compliance, training, translation, reporting, and potential liability costs because protections are broader, coverage is expanded, and fines/damages exposure increase.
Broader legal standards, expanded bases for claims (including perception/association), longer filing windows, and removal of some religious‑based defenses raise litigation volume and legal uncertainty for employers and other institutions.
Federal contractors face new administrative burdens, frequent disclosures, possible debarment risk, and centralized reporting that may disproportionately burden small contractors and affect future procurement opportunities.
Based on analysis of 17 sections of legislative text.
Requires employer nondiscrimination policies and trainings, expands “sex” to include sexual orientation/gender identity across federal laws, extends protections to contractors/interns, adjusts remedies, and creates prevention grants.
Requires most employers to adopt and share a comprehensive nondiscrimination policy, set training requirements, and meet accessibility and posting rules; expands federal employment discrimination law to define “sex” to include sexual orientation, gender identity, sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, and pregnancy-related conditions; extends many federal workplace protections to independent contractors, interns, volunteers, fellows, trainees, and applicants; alters remedies for certain mixed-motive claims; creates a federal grants program to prevent and respond to workplace discrimination and harassment; and updates contractor reporting and federal procurement rules to improve labor compliance. Implements civil fines for employer noncompliance, directs federal agencies to issue regulations and rulemaking within specified timeframes, and requires interagency coordination and resources for small employers. The bill relies on further EEOC and agency rulemaking for many operational details and includes a severability clause to preserve the rest of the law if parts are struck down.