2/13/2020

CFO Patronis: Victims Should Not Feel Like Criminals

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis issued a statement on the passage of CS/HB 1077 by Representative Chip LaMarca, from the House Commerce Committee, which bolsters whistleblower protections for victims of sexual harassment.   CFO Jimmy Patronis said, “Florida’s whistleblower law should be tough, or as tough, as those on the federal level for employees and applicants, so we don’t have victims of sexual harassment being contacted and threatened, making them feel like a criminal as they try to protect their own rights. As we champion policies that protect victims of sexual harassment, today Florida took an important step forward in that effort. I want to thank Representative Chip LaMarca for championing this important legislation, and I’ll continue fighting to get this much needed reform on the Governor’s desk.”   The legislation prohibits, and establishes penalties, for any retaliatory conduct against a victim of sexual harassment by barring the dissemination of any personal identifying information to parties outside of the formal investigative process, including a victim’s home address, cell and home phone number, email address, social media account, or any other type of information that could be used to identify, locate or contact the victim.

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