89R15475 DNC-D     By: Reynolds H.B. No. 4245       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to compensatory and punitive damage limits in employment   discrimination claims.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 21.2585, Labor Code, is amended by   amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (d-1) to read as   follows:          (d)  Subject to Subsection (d-1), the [The] sum of the amount   of compensatory damages awarded under this section for future   pecuniary losses, emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental   anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, and other nonpecuniary losses   and the amount of punitive damages awarded under this section may   not exceed, for each complainant:                (1)  $50,000 in the case of a respondent that has fewer   than 101 employees;                (2)  $100,000 in the case of a respondent that has more   than 100 and fewer than 201 employees;                (3)  $200,000 in the case of a respondent that has more   than 200 and fewer than 501 employees; and                (4)  $300,000 in the case of a respondent that has more   than 500 employees.          (d-1)  When the consumer price index increases with respect   to the amount of that index on September 1, 2025, the limits on   damages prescribed by Subsection (d) shall be increased by a sum   equal to the amount of such limit multiplied by the percentage   increase in the consumer price index, as published by the Bureau of   Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, that   measures the average changes in prices of goods and services   purchased by urban wage earners and clerical workers' families   (CPI-W:  Seasonally Adjusted U.S. City Average--All Items),   between September 1, 2025, and the time at which damages subject to   such limits are awarded by final judgment or settlement.          SECTION 2.  Section 21.2585(d-1), Labor Code, as added by   this Act, applies only to a complaint in relation to an unlawful   employment practice that occurs on or after the effective date of   this Act.  A complaint in relation to an unlawful employment   practice that occurs before the effective date of this Act is   governed by the law in effect on the date the unlawful employment   practice occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for   that purpose.          SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.