Congress Introduces Civil Rights Act of 2008

Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Representative John Lewis (D-AL) recently introduced the Civil Rights Act of 2008 to Congress.

The Act proposes changes to several employment laws and is intended to amend much of the Supreme Court’s recent jurisprudence.  Chief among the changes the Act hopes to produce are to:

• Allow back pay and monetary damages for violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) by state employers;
  
  
• Require that ADEA disparate impact claims be analyzed under the same standards as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964;
  
  
• Allow private individuals to bring “disparate impact” claims against federally subsidized employers.  Currently, only the federal government is able to bring “disparate impact” suits against those employers;
  
  
• Eliminate the 1991 Civil Rights Act damages caps under Title VII and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA);
  
  
• Allow the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to award back pay to undocumented workers;
  
  
• Allow compensatory and punitive damages for violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
  
  
• Amend the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) to prohibit clauses requiring arbitration of federal constitutional or statutory claims, unless the parties knowingly and voluntarily consent after a dispute arises or as part of a collective bargaining agreement.

Although the Act is unlikely to be passed by President Bush, both Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton are co-sponsors of the bill.  A copy of the bill may be found here.

Posted by: Neal Shah