House Committee on Education and Labor
U.S. House of Representatives

The House is scheduled to vote this week on the so-called Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 1338), a trial lawyer boondoggle masquerading as a bill to protect women from wage discrimination.  Republicans are strongly opposed to workplace discrimination, and are committed to the principle of equal pay for equal work.  Unfortunately, H.R. 1338 does nothing to promote paycheck fairness – it simply expands opportunities for trial lawyers to cash in under existing nondiscrimination laws. 

Sex Discrimination in Employment is Wrong – and it’s Already Illegal

• Employment discrimination, including pay discrimination, on the basis of sex is already prohibited by federal law.
• The Equal Pay Act (EPA) was added to the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1963.  That law makes it illegal to pay different wages to employees of the opposite sex for equal work.
• In addition to the EPA, Congress has enacted a comprehensive code of anti-discrimination rules based on race, color, national origin, religion, and sex under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
• These two laws offer strong protections against employment discrimination on the basis of sex, including considerable legal remedies for those who may be victims of discrimination.

The Paycheck Fairness Act Does NOTHING to Make Paychecks Fairer

• The “Paycheck Fairness Act” doesn’t offer any new protections against pay discrimination – it is a bill to encourage more and costlier lawsuits, pure and simple.
• The bill includes several steps that will make it more lucrative for trial lawyers to pursue sex discrimination claims under the EPA.  This may be good for lawyers, but it will be costly for businesses and their workers.
• The bill opens EPA discrimination claims to unlimited compensatory and punitive damages.
• This provision will be a trial lawyer magnet, because many of these lawyers are paid by taking a percentage of their clients’ jury awards.  With the prospect of an unlimited payday, lawyers are likely to bring considerably more claims, valid or not, to court.
• Unlike Title VII, the EPA does not require that discrimination be intentional in order to violate the law.  As such, this bill could award unlimited damages even if there is clearly no intentional discrimination.
• H.R. 1338 also makes it easier for class action lawsuits to be brought under the law – another big payday for trial lawyers, with no new benefit to protect workers.

Republicans Are Offering Real Solutions to Protect Workers’ Wages

• Republicans are deeply concerned about working families.
• If any worker is subject to discrimination in the workplace – because of their sex or for any other reason – that discrimination should be rooted out and punished accordingly.  That’s why current law protections are so important.
• Republicans are also concerned about other workplace policies and proposals that threaten workers’ wages, flexibility, and freedom.
• During the Education and Labor Committee’s consideration of H.R. 1338, Republicans proposed real solutions for the concerns of working women and families.
• Amendments were offered to provide a more family-friendly workplace and to support strategies to bring down the price of gas.  Both were rejected by Democrats along party lines.

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