Forum: The new Congress convenes, trial lawyer lobby smiles

Article here. Excerpt:

'The 111th Congress convenes at noon today, and House Democratic leadership is starting the week with two bills that appeal to their core constituencies but send the business community into conniptions. The two pieces of legislation -- the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act -- are priorities for organized labor, liberal women's advocacy groups, and the plaintiff's bar.

The Paycheck Fairness Act is potentially worse, in that creates many new grounds for litigation in a supposed effort to fight gender discrimination. The bill, H.R. 1338 in the 110th Congress, passed in July 2008 by a vote of 247-178. It would:

-Eliminate current caps on punitive and compensatory damages in claims made under the Equal Pay Act;
-Expose employers to unlimited punitive and compensatory damage awards when unintentional pay disparities have occurred;
-Eliminate key employer defenses for pay disparities;
-Prohibit employers from disciplining or discharging employees for publicly disclosing sensitive wage information; and,
-Mandate new federal government "guidelines" about the relative worth of different types of jobs.

In its original form, the legislation also included the old "comparable worth" guidelines.'