By Bob Katzen

The Senate approved and sent to the House a bill that would extend employment protection for workers employed through a temporary hiring agency. These workers, if they are victims of domestic assault, could not have their contract terminated if they miss a reasonable amount of time for certain appointments. Covered appointments include doctor’s appointments, hospital stays and court dates. This would mirror the protections currently granted to bona fide employees of a company.

“This bill has been filed and pushed by Sen. Fattman and me after a tragic incident that occurred to a constituent of ours,” said co-sponsor Rep. Joe McKenna (R-Webster). “Amanda Dabrowski was a victim of domestic assault and had her temporary agency contract terminated after missing time because she was in the hospital. Tragically, partly due to her loss of work, her life took a few challenging turns and she was ultimately tracked and murdered by the same violent perpetrator.”

“No one who’s a victim of domestic violence should lose their job because they are unable to attend work due to the injuries they sustained from domestic abuse,” said co-sponsor Sen. Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton). “Victims of domestic violence need to be protected, and this legislation will be one step in strengthening our laws to make sure this happens. In Amanda’s honor, the Dabrowski family would like to make sure that something good comes out of this very tragic situation.”