GOP blocks pay equity measure in Senate [View All]

[Faygo Kid]

Source: Associated Press

Senate Republicans have succeeded in blocking a measure designed to reduce wage disparities between men and women.

The 58-41 vote to take up the Paycheck Fairness Act fell short of the 60 needed to overcome GOP opposition.

Civil rights groups, labor leaders and the Obama administration all supported the bill, which would make employers prove that any disparities in wages are job-related and not sex-based.

Republicans and business groups said the bill would expose employers to more litigation by removing limits on punitive and compensatory damage awards. . .

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gY_Hy2zNooFuTMDMk6sfSRRtH3Jg?docId=f6d789047b5d43b2a12dbbfb52e1b27a

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All it would have done was restore the law to the way it had been before the horrid U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2009 that, as the New York Times said at the time, "the 5-to-4 decision disregarded legal precedent, longstanding practice and the plain reading of statutory language. It rewrote the rules for litigating age-discrimination cases in favor of employers, which will make it harder for those with legitimate claims of age discrimination to prevail in court."

The 60-vote cloture rule strikes again. Awful stuff.