Committee Democrats Oppose Legislation That Would Undermine Civil Rights of American Workers
WASHINGTON – Today, the Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Workforce Protections held a legislative hearing on four bills: the Certainty in Enforcement Act of 2015 (H.R. 548); the Litigation Oversight Enforcement Act of 2015 (H.R. 549); Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Transparency and Accountability Act (H.R. 550); and Preserving Employee Wellness Program Act (H.R. 1189). These bills – introduced by the Majority – would create roadblocks to EEOC enforcement of employment discrimination laws and expose many Americans to possible workplace to discrimination.
“The data is clear that employment discrimination is real – even 50 years after the creation of the EEOC,” said Education and Workforce Committee Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA). “In Fiscal Year 2014 alone, there were 88,778 discrimination charges filed with EEOC. Of those, 35 percent were based on race, 29 percent were based on sex, 29 percent were based on disability status, and 23.2 percent were based on age. The EEOC’s work is still critically important to a thriving workforce.”
The provisions of H.R. 550 are administratively burdensome and duplicative of information already publicly available. The EEOC’s litigation efforts are a matter of public record, and its pre-litigation activities are kept private to protect attorney-client confidentiality.
H.R. 549 would significantly hinder the EEOC’s execution of its enforcement duties by preventing the commission from delegating litigation authority to the General Counsel.
H.R. 548 would restrict the EEOC’s evaluation of disparate impact in employers’ use of criminal or credit records for employment. Disparate impact analysis has been recognized by the Supreme Court, Congress, and the EEOC as an important tool to combat employment-based discrimination, especially in criminal background cases.
H.R. 1189 would significantly limit the EEOC’s authority to investigate or litigate complaints of employment discrimination in employer-provided wellness programs.
These bills are based on a small number of reports against the EEOC, despite a 93 percent success rate in federal courts and 82 percent success rate in systemic cases. They are part of a continued effort by the Majority to weaken laws built to protect the average worker.
“The Lawyers’ Committee and the larger civil rights community fervently rejects the belief that the EEOC needs to be restrained,” said witness Tanya Clay House, Director of Public Policy for The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law at the hearing. “In light of the substantial benefits the Commission obtains for employees based upon the data provided today, it is not reasonable to evaluate the EEOC based upon a small number of reports. This limited number of reports does not suggest an issue of systematic abuse of authority.”
Ms. House’s full testimony can be found here.
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