New Maryland Sexual Harassment Regulations

UPDATE: The new Maryland sexual harassment law is going into effect October 1, 2022.

The Maryland General Assembly’s 2022 session an expanded definition of illegal harassment, and extended the statute of limitations for employment discrimination and harassment claims.

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Maryland Harassment Regulations:

NOTE: There is some question as to the constitutionality of this bill.

Requirements under this bill:

The Maryland General Assembly’s 2022 session an expanded definition of illegal harassment, and extended the statute of limitations for employment discrimination and harassment claims.

This bill drastically expands the definition of “harassment” under Maryland's State anti-discrimination law. Until now, Maryland law was consistent with federal law in requiring conduct to be “severe or pervasive,” among other things, in order to constitute unlawful harassment. This new bill specifically removes the “unwelcome and offensive conduct” requirement in the following situations:

• Submission to the conduct is made a term or condition of an individual’s employment, whether explicitly or implicitly.
• Submission to or rejection of the conduct is used as the basis for employment decisions about the individual.
• Based on the totality of the circumstances, the conduct unreasonably creates a working environment that a reasonable person would perceive to be abusive or hostile.

The bill also adds a new definition of “sexual harassment” as conduct “that consists of unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or other conduct of a sexual nature.” Again, such conduct need not be severe or pervasive under the same three situations set forth above.

Maryland employers, this law significantly lowers the standard for illegal harassment. Maryland employers can likely expect to see more employees bringing harassment claims before the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights and in state court.

Another expansion of the State anti-discrimination law.

Under current law, employees must file a charge of discrimination with the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission before they can file suit in court (typically, a charge filed with one agency is considered co-filed with the other). In addition, employees must file suit in State court within 2 years of the alleged discriminatory action and within 3 years of the alleged harassment. The bill tolls (e.g. puts on hold) that suit-filing period while an administrative charge is pending.

Keep in mind, the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission may not always be prompt in conducting their investigations. A delay can have a serious impact on an employer’s ability to defend against a claim. Keep any claims related records. The passage of time could result in faulty memories, lost documents, and unavailable witnesses.

This bill takes effect on October 1, 2022.

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