Paycheck Fairness and the Myth of Runaway Verdicts

This is the final post in a five-part series debunking the myths surrounding the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Midterm elections are over, but now isn’t the time to relax. Quite the contrary — the Senate reconvenes in just 10 days, and women’s voices must be heard. The Senate needs to be told in no uncertain terms that they must pass the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 3772). This much-needed update to the 1963 Equal Pay Act empowers women to negotiate for fair pay and creates stronger incentives and deterrents to encourage employers to follow the law in the first place. A key deterrent to pay discrimination is the possibility of damages.

Myth: Allowing damage claims under the Equal Pay Act would flood the courts and cause an abuse of litigation.

Fact: Unlimited compensatory and punitive damage claims are allowed in racial discrimination cases and have not resulted in runaway verdicts. The Paycheck Fairness Act puts such damages for gender discrimination on par with racial discrimination. Numerous limitations exist to guard against improperly high verdicts. In fact, if a judge feels a jury is egregious, she or he can reduce or vacate the damage award. There are also constitutional limitations on punitive damages to guard against runaway juries.

Lilly Ledbetter at AAUW’s 2009 National Convention

Gender and racial discrimination are both based on immutable characteristics. The new damages provisions in the Paycheck Fairness Act recognize that all victims of discrimination should be entitled to the same remedies when their rights are violated. Those subject to sex discrimination should not be treated as second-class citizens in the reparation they can receive. That is precisely what the law does now — and what the Paycheck Fairness Act aims to fix.

But time is ticking. If the Senate does not act to pass this critical bill before the end of the year, all our hard work will end in frustration when the 111^th Congress adjourns. Both chambers will have to start fresh on the bill next year, while you and your daughters continue to wait in the wings for fair pay. And there is no guarantee the new Congress will even take up the issue.

We’ve been trying to pass versions of this bill for over a decade, but we’ve never before been so close to achieving this simple justice. Tell your senators to stand on the right side of history now, before this window of opportunity closes.

Learn more about the Paycheck Fairness Act and contact your senators today.

This post was written by Public Policy Fellow Emily Pfefer.

part 1 |  part 2 |  part 3 |  part 4 |  This is part 5