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City Code Amendment Would Offer Protection and Immunity for Employees Disclosing Sexual Harassment

Official:Amending Title 20 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled "Officers and Employees," Chapter 20-700, "Defense and Indemnification," by adding new language to provide protection for disclosures of sexual harassment and immunity for cooperation against sexual harassers, all under certain terms and conditions.

Sponsor: Councilmember Oh

Introduced: February 22, 2018

: Committee on Law and Government

employee protectionssexual harassment

No one voted on this bill

This bill was introduced in the 2016–2019 Council term and when that term ran out. The public record shows no committee vote and no floor vote at any stage, so no member of Council ever went on record for or against it.

That is not unusual here. Of the 8,465 bills introduced between 2000 and 2025, 1,624 lapsed without a single recorded vote. Ninety percent of bills that became law carry a roll call. Three percent of lapsed bills do. How this works.

Plain-Language Summary

This bill amends city code to provide protection for employees who disclose sexual harassment and immunity for cooperation against harassers.

What This Bill Does

AI-written. Every figure is checked against the bill text.

Adds protection for employees who disclose sexual harassment, including immunity for cooperation against harassers.
Defines "disclosure" as a formal or informal, written or oral, communication or transmission.
Broadens the definition of "officer" or "employee" to include any person who serves the City and/or County of Philadelphia, including full-time or intermittent employees, regardless of compensation.
Defines "retaliatory personnel action" to include termination of employment, demotion, disciplinary or corrective action, and other actions that could be considered retaliation for reporting harassment.