Employer Impacts of New “Revenge” Bill

This week the House held its first hearing on House Bill 497, which, along with its Senate companion Senate Bill 251, prohibit the nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images. The two bills are designed to close a loophole in Ohio law that allows individuals to knowingly disseminate private images, without consent of the victim, with a purpose to harm the person in the images.

In their joint testimony Reps. John Rogers (D-Mentor on the Lake) and Nathan Manning (R-North Ridgeville) outlined the provisions of the bill including criminal penalties and employment protections. Employment protections include prohibiting an employer from firing, or failing to hire, an individual because of their victim status; requiring an employer to make “reasonable accommodations” to the victim; requiring an employer to give a victim unpaid leave; and, creating a civil action against an employer for failing to follow the bill’s employer requirements.

Read about the bill and its employer provisions here. 3/1/2018