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LaMalfa Votes against Bill Designed to Benefit Trial Lawyers

March 27, 2019
(Washington, DC) – Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) issued the following statement after voting against H.R. 7, which would provide nearly unlimited paydays for trial lawyers under the guise of paycheck fairness for women. H.R. 7 does not make any improvements upon existing pay discrimination laws, instead, it provides more opportunities for trial lawyers to cash in while tying up job creators with frivolous lawsuits.
In 1963, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act, which made it illegal to pay different wages to women for equal work. In 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, which, among other provisions, made it illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, and sex.
LaMalfa said: "H.R. 7 should be named the ‘No Lawyer Left Behind Act,' because trial lawyers are the only ones who'd stand to truly benefit under this law. Everyone believes that equal work should be compensated with equal pay, but that's not what this legislation is about. It doesn't offer any new protections to women from workplace discrimination – which Congress made illegal in the 60s by passing the Equal Pay Act and the Civil Rights Act – instead, it places unreasonable burdens on employers and makes it nearly impossible to defend against even the most frivolous of lawsuits. This is a partisan bill designed to reward its proponents' top donors. There are more women in the workplace today than ever before, and they deserve better than this misleading and disingenuous bill."
Of the 2.8 million jobs created in the past year, more than 58% have gone to women and the number of women in the U.S. workforce in 2019 is higher than ever before – 74.9 million.
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Paycheck Fairness Act One  Minute 3.27.19
Rep. LaMalfa: "Paycheck Fairness Act should be called the No Lawyer Left Behind Act." [YouTube]
H.R. 7:
  • Makes it harder for job creators to defend against frivolous lawsuits.
  • Allows trial lawyers to pursue unlimited compensatory damages and unlimited punitive damages.
  • Changes EPA class action lawsuits from an opt-in system to a mandatory opt-out system, tying more women in lengthy employment lawsuits and limiting their legal options.
  • Places unprecedented restrictions and burdens on job creators, such as prohibiting an employer from inquiring about wage history – which has already been deemed to violate the First Amendment in federal district court.
  • Violates workers' confidentiality and right to privacy by forcing employers to submit thousands of new elements of worker pay data broken down by race, sex, and national origin, as well as hiring, firing, and promotion data.
Congressman Doug LaMalfa is a lifelong farmer representing California's First Congressional District, including Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou and Tehama Counties.
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