Workers gain stronger discrimination remedies: emotional damages, jury trials, punitive awards
H.R. 9116 — Equal Remedies Act of 2026 · Filed by Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 3, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill expands remedies available to workers who sue for discrimination. It allows victims of race, color, religion, sex, and national-origin discrimination (under the Civil Rights Act) to recover compensatory damages for emotional harm and non-pecuniary losses, and grants the same remedies to age-discrimination victims—including compensatory and punitive damages and jury trials—that are available under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole function is to equalize and expand the legal remedies available to workers suing for discrimination under federal civil rights statutes. It is a straightforward substantive amendment to existing discrimination law.
What the text implies
- Punitive damages availability for age discrimination may increase settlement costs and litigation risk for employers, potentially affecting hiring and retention practices.
- Jury trial availability in age discrimination cases may increase unpredictability and variance in outcomes compared to administrative proceedings.
- Equalization of remedies across discrimination statutes may encourage more age-discrimination claims by making recovery more attractive relative to other discrimination claims.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Workers who experience discrimination gain stronger legal remedies—compensatory damages for emotional harm, punitive damages, and jury trials—making it more viable to sue and recover full damages. This strengthens enforcement of civil rights protections and increases accountability for discriminatory employers.
Who stands to gain
- employment litigation attorneys
- workers alleging discrimination (through expanded damages awards)
Named in the bill
Section 1977A of the Revised Statutes, Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), U.S. Attorney General
Where it stands
4 cosponsors: 4 Democrats.
- Jun 3, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 3, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary and House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,617 characters) on Sep 23, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Workers gain stronger discrimination remedies: emotional damages, jury trials, punitive awards” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr9116 Report an error
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