The Texas Legislature created the Texas Commission on Human Rights in 1983. The Commission was abolished in 2003 and its powers and responsibilities were transferred to the Texas Workforce Commission’s Civil Rights Division (CRD).12 The CRD enforces Chapter 21 of the Texas Labor Code, (formerly known as the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (TCHRA)), which prohibits employment discrimination in Texas. Its general purposes include providing for the execution of federal antidiscrimination laws and identifying and creating a state authority to enforce federal antidiscrimination policies.13 The CRD is approved by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as a referral agency. It may investigate a claim of discrimination on behalf of the EEOC.
