Marilyn Moore

Moore Calls for Passage of Time’s Up Act

State Senator Marilyn Moore (D-Bridgeport) today joined members of the Senate Democratic Caucus today to declare that “time’s up” on the problem of sexual harassment and sexual assault, as caucus members announced a legislative package that includes the largest overhaul in modern history of Connecticut’s sexual harassment and sexual assault laws.

“The Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities plays a significant role in ensuring that victims of sexual misconduct and discrimination in the workplace have the resources they need to receive justice. However, in some cases, their hands are tied by current legislation,” Sen. Moore said. “We need to remove some of these barriers and increase the resources available to CHRO and give them more investigative and enforcement capacity so that it can fulfill its critically important role of protecting Connecticut citizens and guarantee that no case falls through the cracks.”

The legislative package, known as the “Time’s Up Act,” reforms Connecticut’s sexual harassment and sexual assault laws and processes to create stronger protections for victims and to increase penalties for offenders by:

• reforming the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO) complaint process
• strengthening and expands Connecticut’s mandated reporter laws
• eliminating statutes of limitation for all felony sexual assault crimes
• increasing financial penalties for offenders
• providing for injunctive relief and punitive damages
• eliminating secret settlements
• strengthening CHRO
• setting a universal process for investigations of harassment complaints against school administrators, and
• requiring increased training and education in Connecticut workplaces.

A proposed bill on the above matters is expected to be raised for consideration this week in the Judiciary Committee.