Camille Olson Quoted in Daily Labor Report and Government Employee Relations
“Pay Equity: Witnesses Debate Merits of Pay Equity Bill, Including Possible Increase in Class Actions”

The Daily Labor Report quoted Camille Olson’s testimony in its coverage of the July 11, 2007 public hearing before the U. S. House Education and Labor Committee’s Workforce Protection Subcommittee (the Committee) on the Paycheck Fairness Act (H. R. 1338, S. 766). Coverage of Camille’s testimony comprises the entirety of the article’s section, “Employers Concerned With Remedy, Damages.”

The Daily Labor Report notes that Camille told the Committee that the legislation would significantly alter the Equal Pay Act in “substantive and procedural ways” based on the premise that all unexplained pay disparities result from intentional discrimination by employers. Camille further stated that proponents of the bill have not cited evidence to show that the existing wage gap is caused by employer discrimination.

Imposing what she called, "harsher, lottery type penalties" on employers, Camille told the Committee that the bill would lower the standards for claims under the law, and make it easier to bring class action litigation. The Daily Labor Report further reports that Camille “also expressed concern that the legislation would inappropriately expand remedies for unintentional wage discrimination to include unlimited compensatory and punitive damages against employers and that the bill would essentially eliminate the ‘factor other than sex’ defense now relied upon by businesses.” An employer can currently show that it has not engaged in sex discrimination under the law if the reason for the difference in wages is a "gender-neutral factor other than sex," Camille testified. Finally, Camille criticized the bill for directly involving the Labor Department in setting wages, by calling on the agency to issue guidelines to compare wages for different jobs and to determine if pay scales are adequate and fair.