Measure would expand claims of discrimination

Published: Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007 12:06 a.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
A bill that would lower the employment threshold for filing discrimination claims likely will be considered by the Legislature.

Attorney Robert Wilde told the Business and Labor Interim Committee on Wednesday that amending the the Utah Anti-Discrimination Act to lower the minimum number of employees required for employer coverage under the act would be beneficial in several ways.

The Utah act currently applies to companies with 15 or more workers, but Wilde said lowering the level to five or more workers would protect more companies from facing general damages such as those awarded for emotional distress, punitive damages and awards for "front pay," meaning lost wages an employee might experience in the future.

Workers filing a claim under the act also would likely face lower legal costs because they typically represent themselves through most of the process and only 5 percent of claims reach a point where the worker would need to hire a lawyer, he said.

Wilde cited three cases in Utah in which workers filed age, sexual or pregnancy-related claims but later were deemed by courts to have had no claim because their employers had fewer than 15 workers and therefore were not covered by the state act.

Story continues below

Most states have a discrimination-act threshold of six to seven employees, he said. The Utah act conforms with provisions of a federal law, which also puts the employment threshold at 15 except for cases of age discrimination, where it applies to companies with at least 20 workers, he said.

Wilde said a draft bill has not yet been written but likely will come before lawmakers in the future. But he expects it to add no costs to state government.

"The fiscal note that would be associated with this modification of the statute probably would be zero dollars," he told the committee. "It is not going to be a burden on employers who use common sense and fairness in the workplace ...."

Recent comments

Dave

You are right on the money!

Attorney, Robert Wilde, is...

businessman | Sept. 23, 2007 at 6:47 p.m.

The state may not suffer incremental costs, thus the fiscal note...

Dave | Sept. 20, 2007 at 11:37 p.m.

previousnext

Latest comments

Jazz brass debate Millsap match

But I am very disappointed in the way this is being handled. For his...

BYU is clearly the better team of the two, they have proven that for the past...

Private property is private property. If you don't follow the wishes of the...

Jazz brass debate Millsap match

Looks like Portland is in the process of putting one over on the Jazz! We...

Whoa! This is another insane idea from this administration.

Big deal. 17 goals in 81 games is crap. He won't play in Europe so the...

I must have missed the accusation that President Clinton fondled a 16 year...

This is an absolute embarrassment and shame to the educational church...

Watching porn doesn't MAKE or turn someone into a pedophile. If that were...

While I see the point you are trying to prove here, it isn't anything like...

Advertisements