Boozman: Pay Equity Legislation Hurts Businesses

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Boozman: Pay Equity Legislation Hurts Businesses

U.S. Representative John Boozman (R-AR) voted Friday against pay equity bills that raise costs for businesses in an already strained economic climate.

H.R. 11, the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act eliminates filing deadlines and the statute of limitations for various employees filing discrimination lawsuits. Boozman is concerned that it will encourage lawsuits against employers for decades-old disputes, providing a boon to trial lawyers but increasing costs for business during an economic downturn.

H.R. 12, the Paycheck Fairness Act dramatically expands the federal role in enforcing gender pay equity in the workplace, and permits unlimited compensatory and punitive damages in pay equity lawsuits. Boozman is concerned that the bill would shift the burden of proof in pay equity cases from the employee to the employer, and that the unlimited damages permitted against employers could hamper businesses, particularly small businesses, during an economic downturn.

"I would like to see legislation that addresses pay dispartity between men and women, but I cannot support the bills in their current forms," Boozman said. "We need to be working for our businesses during these tough economic times, not discussing legislation that is a burden to them."

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