Equal Remedies Act of 2007 Introduced in Senate

I just returned from the Southeastern Association of Law Schools Conference in Amelia Island, Florida (I know, it is a hard life) and one of the papers I heard given by Terry Beiner (Arkansas-Little Rock) was on lifting the damages caps under the Civil Rights Act of 1991.

Well, apparently, Terry, you and other powerful people think alike. Here's Michael Fox from Jottings of An Employer's Lawyer:

Although not yet announced on his website or available from the Senate's website, the Daily Labor Report is saying that Senator Kennedy has introduced the Equal Remedies Act of 2007. The intent is to remove the caps in Title VII which limits compensatory and punitive damages under that statute based on an employer's size. For an employer of more than 500, the cap is $300,000. That is in addition to back pay and other out of pocket damages, reinstatement and other equitable remedies and attorneys fees.

The stated reason -- to ensure equality for gender, disability and religious discrimination claims with those available to individuals who bring claims for race or national origin discrimination. Those claims can be brought under § 1981 which has no caps. (It also has a much longer statute of limitations and no requirement to file with the EEOC, so following the logic of this legislation, perhaps we could save some taxpayer money and abolish the EEOC.)

Although Mike would like to see caps put on Section 1981 and other laws, the Democrats have another idea. This isn't going anywhere with Bush at the helm, but more things seems possible come 2009.

PS