Brooks Votes Against Sexist, Discriminatory & Liberal Trial Lawyers Dream: H.R. 7
Press Release
Thursday, Congressman Mo Brooks (AL-05) voted against H.R. 7, a sexist, discriminatory, Socialist Democrat bill that fans the flames of resentment while reducing wages and hurting women's ability to find employment.
Brief summary of H.R. 7:
Makes it much harder, if not impossible, for job creators to defend against frivolous lawsuits when a difference in pay is the result of legitimate factors, such as seniority or competency, that are unrelated to sex;
Promotes the ability of liberal trial lawyers to feed off employers by pursuing unlimited damages, even when the alleged discrimination is unintentional, all of which puts employers out of business and costs citizens jobs;
Shifts burden of proof requirements from employees to business owners, contrary to centuries of American jurisprudence, thereby driving up business costs, closing businesses, and costing citizens jobs;
Changes Equal Pay Act class action lawsuits from an opt-in system to a mandatory opt-out system, tying citizens into long-running employment lawsuits and limiting their legal options, while providing a financial windfall to liberal trial lawyers;
Requires employers to make costly, intrusive and unnecessary compensation data disclosures to the EEOC broken down by the sex, race, and national origin of employees and, for the first time, including the hiring, termination, and promotion data of those employees. These mandates drive up employer costs, putting some out of business, and costs citizens jobs; and,
Imposes draconian compliance costs on businesses amounting to more than $600 million per year.[1]
Congressman Brooks stated, "Congress passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963. Since then, paying lower wages to a woman for work equal to that of a man has been illegal. What little differences exist in pay among men and women are the result of individual career and family decisions.[2] Yet, Socialists perpetuate the myth of pay discrimination to rile voting blocs. They do this for partisan, political gain as they implement their divisive identity politics election strategy. I'm sick of identity politics, and I'm not going to let the Socialists get away with lying to and dividing the American people without pointing it out!"
Brooks added, "From a policy perspective, the Socialists' divisive bill is sure to backfire. It imposes draconian compliance costs on businesses-- money that could be spent increasing employee pay or keeping employers in business and citizens in jobs. What's worse, the bill would drastically limit a business's ability to defend in court against lawsuits claiming sex discrimination based on pay differences that may arise from lawful and legitimate business practices, such as rewarding seniority and competence. This bill has greedy, liberal trial lawyers salivating and is nothing more than a payback for liberal trial lawyers' financial support of Socialist Democrat candidacies! According to the well-respected Heritage Foundation, the bill would eliminate pay for performance altogether and result in lower wages across the board.[3] Employers would have no choice but to implement uniform pay scales that would reduce incentives for productivity and ingenuity, thereby putting American employers and citizen jobs at risk in a very competitive international marketplace."
Brooks concluded, "This entire issue is ironic given the Socialists' science-denial position that there is no such thing as a woman. The Socialists' political conundrum would be funny if it weren't so sad and harmful to America."
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[1] H.R. 7 "The So-Called Paycheck Fairness Act", Education and Labor Committee Republicans. https://brooks.house.gov/sites/brooks.house.gov/files/H.R.%207%20117th%20one%20pager%20%28E%26L%29.pdf
[2] Heritage Foundation, "The Gender Pay Gap: Choice, Children, and Public Policy", Rachel Greszler, March 23, 2021. https://www.heritage.org/jobs-and-labor/report/the-gender-pay-gap-choice-children-and-public-policy
[3] Heritage Foundation, "Paycheck Fairness Act Would Reduce Pay and Flexibility in the Workplace," Rachel Greszler and James Sherk, April 17, 2014. https://www.heritage.org/jobs-and-labor/report/paycheck-fairness-act-would-reduce-pay-and-flexibility-the-workplace
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