[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 116 (Wednesday, August 17, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 17, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
         INTRODUCTION OF CIVIL RIGHTS PROCEDURES PROTECTION ACT

                                 ______


                        HON. PATRICIA SCHROEDER

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, August 17, 1994

  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, last week, the House voted 427-4 to 
extend to congressional employees coverage under Federal labor and 
civil rights laws, correcting a longstanding deficiency in these laws. 
Today, together with Representatives Edward Markey and Marjorie 
Margolies-Mezvinsky, I am introducing legislation to address another 
serious problem that deprives many Americans of the legal protections 
Congress intended them to have when these laws were passed.
  Our legislation, the Civil Rights Procedures Protection Act, would 
prevent the practice of requiring employees to agree to submit any 
claims of job discrimination that may arise to binding arbitration. The 
willingness to sign such an agreement is often made a condition of 
hiring, continued employment, or promotion. The practice of mandatory 
arbitration, which is already in widespread use in the securities 
industry, is growing in popularity among many individual corporations 
especially in the construction, insurance, banking, and information 
technology industries.
  The Wall Street Journal profiled the handling of a sexual harassment 
case by the securities industry on June 9. The article described the 
case of Helen Walters, a secretary subjected to obscene name-calling, 
physical threats, and unwanted gifts of condoms from her boss--actions 
most reasonable people would agree constitute a hostile work 
environment. Her case was ultimately dismissed; not by a court or the 
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but by a three-member 
arbitration panel hired and paid for by the securities industry. A 
recent GAO report on the subject found that arbitrators employed by the 
securities industry are typically white males, averaging 60 years of 
age, with little or no specific training in employment law. In Ms. 
Walters' case, she did not realize that the agreement she signed 
when she became a registered securities agent contained the mandatory 
arbitration clause, nor did she know that barring fraud the arbitration 
panel's decision could not be overturned in court.

  The Civil Rights Procedures Protection Act would amend seven Federal 
statutes to specify that the powers and procedures provided under those 
acts could not be overridden by any contract, Federal statute of 
general applicability or other mechanism. Our legislation specifically 
permits employees to voluntarily elect to resolve an employment claim 
under arbitration after the claim has arisen.
  The Federal statues amended by our bill are: title VII of the Civil 
Rights Act of 1964, section 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the 
Americans With Disabilities Act, section 1977 of the Revised States, 
which encompass the damages provided under the Civil Rights Act of 
1991, the Equal Pay Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the 
Federal Arbitration Act. The amendment to the FAA extends the 
protections of the bill to claims of unlawful employment discrimination 
that arise under State or local law as well as to any other Federal 
statute under which similar charges of job discrimination may be 
brought.
  Congress passed each of these laws with the intention of extending 
its protections to all Americans. No one wants to believe at the time 
of hiring that he or she may one day be in a position to bring an 
employment discrimination claim against an employer. Mandatory 
arbitration represents a disturbing trend in employment law, one that 
forces many workers to choose between a job or promotion and their 
civil rights. This is a choice no one should be forced to make. I hope 
my colleagues will join us in cosponsoring the Civil Rights Procedures 
Protection Act.

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