The Lead with Jake Tapper: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Is Interviewed About Age Discrimination To Protect Older Workers

Interview

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No, I haven't. I disagree very strongly with them.

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I think he can. I think any Republican who believes in the rule of law, who believes that no one is above the law, and who believes that obstruction of justice is a serious crime, especially when dealing with highly sensitive classified information which could harm us globally and from a national security perspective, would have to be clear eyed about this.

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I think the fact patterns are very different. Donald Trump has clearly hidden documents and not returned them when asked nicely, not returned them when subpoenaed, and that's very different than any other elected leader that had classified documents in their possession, including Vice President Pence.

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I think it's a huge issue. I think when workers turn 50, 55, sometimes employers are looking for ways to get rid of them to hire lower cost employees. And we want to make sure that if you are being discriminated against in the workplace because of your age, that you can sue in a court of law so that you can name who has done this to you publicly and not have to be shunted off behind closed doors into a mandatory arbitration scheme.

Arbitration disproportionately benefits the employers who hire them and select them. And many of these claims, they want a jury of their peers, which I think is only right. It's a fair justice system. It's the court of law that we base our constitutional democracy on. And so it's appropriate for people who feel that it would be unfair if they had to be forced into arbitration.

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So it vitiates 60 million employment, because when you sign an employment contract, you may well have one with CNN, and it may well say, if you have any claims against CNN, you have to go to mandatory arbitration. What this bill says is, if you are being discriminated against, Jake, because you're now over 55 and they don't like an older anchor, that you could sue in a court of law, that you don't have to get shunted off into a mandatory arbitration proceeding, which is behind closed doors. And that light, that, you know, disinfectant of sunlight is very helpful when you have corruption in any company or if there is discrimination happening.

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Is that true? Yes. You're younger than me. I'm 56.

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OK. OK, fine. You got one more year.

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Right. I think Social Security is one of the most important safety nets and fabric of our community. It's a promise to our parents and grandparents that you will not die in poverty. You will always have enough money for food and for housing. Because before we had Social Security, that was the reality if you were disabled, if you were older, if you didn't have an income, you might starve to death. And so that's why we created Social Security, and we do need to strengthen it.

I think the best way to strengthen it is make sure everyone pays into Social Security the full amount for all their income. Not having a false cut off at $127,000 or wherever it is not right because it's protecting wealthier people from paying into a system that benefits everyone and benefits their whole family and the whole community they live in.

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Thank you.

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