With Changes, Employment Bill Moves Out of Committee

After numerous hearings and amendments, House Bill 2, a bill aimed at mirroring Ohio’s civil rights law with the federal law, was voted out of the House Economic Development, Commerce and Labor Committee along party lines.

Opposition to the bill from the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, the Ohio Association of Justice, and others was dropped after a new sub bill was adopted.

The OMA and other business organizations were supportive of the bill and its purpose. Opponents previously argued the bill would weaken workplace protections.

The latest version of the bill made two prominent changes: language requiring an individual to file a charge of discrimination before the Ohio Civil Rights Commission before filing a lawsuit and extending the statute of limitations for such claims to two years.