[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4499 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 4499

   To amend the National Labor Relations Act to ensure that certain 
              prevailing parties receive attorneys' fees.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 3, 2004

 Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas (for himself and Mr. Carter) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
                             the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the National Labor Relations Act to ensure that certain 
              prevailing parties receive attorneys' fees.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Working Families Access to Justice 
Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT.

    The National Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 151 and following) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 20. AWARDS OF ATTORNEYS' FEES AND COSTS.

    ``(a) Administrative Proceedings.--An employer who, or a labor 
organization that--
            ``(1) is the prevailing party in an adversary adjudication 
        conducted by the Board under this or any other Act, and
            ``(2) had not more than 100 employees and a net worth of 
        not more than $7,000,000 at the time the adversary adjudication 
        was initiated,
shall be awarded fees and other expenses as a prevailing party under 
section 504 of title 5, United States Code, in accordance with the 
provisions of that section, but without regard to whether the position 
of the Board was substantially justified or special circumstances make 
an award unjust. For purposes of this subsection, the term `adversary 
adjudication' has the meaning given that term in section 504(b)(1)(C) 
of title 5, United States Code.
    ``(b) Court Proceedings.--An employer who, or a labor organization 
that--
            ``(1) is the prevailing party in a civil action, including 
        proceedings for judicial review of agency action by the Board, 
        brought by or against the Board, and
            ``(2) had not more than 100 employees and a net worth of 
        not more than $7,000,000 at the time the civil action was 
        filed,
shall be awarded fees and other expenses as a prevailing party under 
section 2412(d) of title 28, United States Code, in accordance with the 
provisions of that section, but without regard to whether the position 
of the United States was substantially justified or special 
circumstances make an award unjust. Any appeal of a determination of 
fees pursuant to subsection (a) or this subsection shall be determined 
without regard to whether the position of the United States was 
substantially justified or special circumstances make an award 
unjust.''.

SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY.

    (a) Agency Proceedings.--Subsection (a) of section 20 of the 
National Labor Relations Act, as added by section 2 of this Act, 
applies to agency proceedings commenced on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
    (b) Court Proceedings.--Subsection (b) of section 20 of the 
National Labor Relations Act, as added by section 2 of this Act, 
applies to civil actions commenced on or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>