South Carolina General Assembly
117th Session, 2007-2008

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Bill 4406


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Indicates New Matter


(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, SO AS TO ENACT THE "SOUTH CAROLINA RESTROOM ACCESS ACT OF 2008", BY ADDING CHAPTER 57 TO TITLE 44 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR ACCESS TO EMPLOYEE TOILET FACILITIES IN RETAIL ESTABLISHMENTS WITHOUT PUBLIC RESTROOMS FOR PERSONS WHO SUFFER FROM MEDICAL CONDITIONS THAT REQUIRE IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO RESTROOMS, AND TO PROVIDE CIVIL PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION OF THE ACT.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Title 44 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"CHAPTER 57

Restroom Access Act

Section 44-57-10.    This act may be cited as the 'South Carolina Restroom Access Act of 2008'.

Section 44-57-20.    For purposes of this chapter:

(A)    'Customer' means a person who is lawfully on the premises of a retail establishment.

(B)    'Eligible medical condition' means Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, another inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, or another medical condition that requires immediate access to a toilet facility.

(C)    'Retail establishment' means a place of business open to the general public for the sale of goods or services.

Section 44-57-30.    (A)    A retail establishment that has a toilet facility for its employees shall allow a customer to use that facility during business hours if:

(1)    the customer requesting use of the employee toilet facility suffers from an eligible medical condition or uses an ostomy device; and

(2)    three or more employees of the retail establishment are working at the time the customer requests use of the employee toilet facility; and

(3)    the retail establishment does not normally make a restroom available to the public; and

(4)    the employee toilet facility is not located in an area where providing access would create an obvious health or safety risk to the customer or an obvious security risk to the retail establishment; and

(5)    a public restroom is not immediately accessible to the customer.

(B)    A retail establishment is not required to make physical changes to an employee toilet facility pursuant to this chapter.

(C)    A retail establishment that intentionally or wilfully violates the provisions of this section may be fined not less than one hundred dollars.

Section 44-57-40.    A customer who falsely maintains that he suffers from an eligible medical condition and who is granted access to a toilet facility on such false pretenses may be fined not less than one hundred dollars."

SECTION 2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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