McCrory signs change to HB2 restoring state discrimination lawsuits
RALEIGH -- Gov. Pat McCrory on Monday signed into law legislation restoring employees’ right to claim in state court that they were fired for discriminatory reasons. Lawmakers say they unintentionally blocked that recourse when they passed a law in March precluding broad LGBT protections.
“Today, we have restored the right to sue for discrimination in state courts, which I requested before this year’s legislative session began,” McCrory said in a statement his office released. “…The issue of gender identity and expression in regards to access to bathrooms, locker rooms and changing facilities is a national issue that will be settled in the courts, in response to North Carolina and 21 other states challenging the federal overreach by the Obama administration.”
The modification restores the right to file discrimination lawsuits in state court — within one year of the alleged offense, which is shorter than the previous three-year limit but twice as long as the limit in federal court. Senate leader Phil Berger’s office said at the time the bill was passed – on the final night of this year’s session – that the one-year limit is similar to other statutes of limitation on state court claims.
The legislature and governor left intact the most controversial provisions of House Bill 2, including preventing cities and counties from imposing LGBT protections broader than state law. HB2 also requires transgender people in government facilities to use bathrooms matching the gender on their birth certificates rather than the gender they identify with.
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