Tuesday, March 13, 2012

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Iowa Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) have today joined with Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to introduce legislation that revives vital civil rights protections for older workers that were limited following the Supreme Court's decision in Gross v. FBL Financial.  Harkin is Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee while Senators Leahy and Grassley are the Chairman and ranking member respectively of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

In Gross, the Supreme Court overturned established precedent that had applied standards of proof the Supreme Court first set out in interpreting the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to the Age Discrimination and Employment Act (ADEA).  The Court held that because Congress did not amend the ADEA to include this standard when it codified the standard for race, sex, national origin, and religion claims as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the standard did not apply to age claims.  As a result of this discrepancy, the opinion has also had reverberations in a wide range of civil cases in addition to age discrimination, including discrimination based on disability.   

"Jack Gross's story is unique, but sadly, is not uncommon," said Senator Harkin.  "Prior to the Court's decision in Gross, the same standard of proof applied equally to all workers, regardless of the type of invidious discrimination they faced.  Ignoring these consistent standards, the Court's decision established a far higher standard of proof for age than for discrimination based on race, sex, national origin and religion, without any rationale or justification.  The Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act will reverse the Court's decision and restore the law to what it was for decades so that Jack Gross and all older workers in this country enjoy the full protections of the law."

"The decision in the Gross case has had a major impact on employment discrimination litigation across the country.  It's time we clarify the law to ensure that other people like Jack Gross aren't put in similar situations.  Older Americans have immense value to our society and our economy and they deserve the protections Congress originally intended," Grassley said.

"This bipartisan legislation reaffirms the contributions made by older Americans in the workforce and ensures that employees will be evaluated based on their performance and not by arbitrary criteria such as age," said Senator Leahy.  "In these difficult economic times, hardworking Americans deserve our help.  We must not allow a thin majority of the Supreme Court to eliminate the protections that Congress has enacted for them."

"The Supreme Court's decision in my case significantly undermined well-established protections against discrimination for older workers," said Jack Gross, the Des Moines man whose case prompted the legislation.  "I am also concerned that this decision, with my name on it, is being used as precedent to undermine workers' rights under other civil rights laws, too."

"I am grateful and proud to have two tenured and highly-respected senators from my home state of Iowa leading the charge on this bipartisan bill to restore longstanding legal standards.  Congress has a long history of working together, on a bipartisan basis, to create a level playing field in the workplace, and I hope they will enact this legislation as soon as possible."

The Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act will restore fundamental fairness.

• The Act reverses the Gross decision and restores the law to what it was for decades before the Court rewrote the rule.  The Act makes clear that when a victim shows discrimination was a "motivating factor" behind a decision, the burden is properly on the employer to show it complied with the law.
• The Act is modeled on the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which passed the Senate on a bipartisan basis 93-5.  Among other things, the Civil Rights Act of 1991 codified the "motivating factor" framework for race, sex, national origin and religion discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
• The Act makes clear that this "motivating factor" framework applies to all anti-discrimination and anti-retaliation laws involving race, sex, national origin, religion, age and disability - treating all workers, and all forms of discrimination, equally.

The bill is supported by the AARP, the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights, National Employment Lawyers Association, National Partnership for Women and Families, and National Senior Citizens Law Center.

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Friday, March 9, 2012

Grassley Asks Justice Department for Details on its "Thousands" of Cases Brought on Mortgage Fraud

WASHINGTON - Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, today asked the Department of Justice for detailed information about the "thousands" of mortgage fraud cases the department has brought forward and about the claim that the department has "secured numerous convictions against CEOs, CFOs, board members, presidents and other executives of Wall Street firms and banks for financial crimes."

Grassley's letter to Attorney General Eric Holder follows a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday about lending foreclosure abuse in relation to the housing crisis.  In a follow-up article in the Blog of Legal Times, a spokesperson from the Justice Department stated, "The Department of Justice, through our U.S. Attorneys' Offices and litigating divisions, has brought thousands of mortgage fraud cases over the past three years, and secured numerous convictions against CEOs, CFOs, board members, presidents and other executives of Wall Street firms and banks for financial crimes."

At the Judiciary Committee hearing, Grassley noted that the Criminal Division in the Justice Department, headed by Lanny Breuer, failed to bring criminal charges against the former Countrywide CEO who was accused of lying about the risks of Countrywide's loans.

Grassley said in his opening statement at the hearing that, "The department's message is that crime does pay.  Light settlements and no prosecutions not only do not deter.  They invite crimes of this sort to occur against similar future victims. How are the department's enormous resources being used?"

Here is a copy of the text of Grassley's letter.  A signed copy can be found here.

March 9, 2012

The Honorable Eric H. Holder, Jr.

Attorney General of the United States

Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC  20530

Dear Mr. Attorney General:

At a March 7, 2012 hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I stated , "The Justice Department has brought no criminal cases against any of the major Wall Street banks or executives who are responsible for the financial crisis" (emphasis added).  In response, the Justice Department issued the following statement: "The Department of Justice, through our U.S. Attorneys' Offices and litigating divisions, has brought thousands of mortgage fraud cases over the past three years, and secured numerous convictions against CEOs, CFOs, board members, presidents and other executives of Wall Street firms and banks for financial crimes."

In light of the Department's statement, please provide for each of the thousands of mortgage fraud cases, the caption of those cases, the crimes for which convictions were sought and obtained, the outcome of the case, including any penalties of imprisonment and/or fines, and please indicate which of these convictions were obtained against CEOs, CFOs, board members, presidents and other executives of Wall Street firms and banks that were responsible for the financial crisis.

Please provide this response by March 31, 2012.

Thank you.                          

Sincerely,

Charles E. Grassley

United States Senator

Washington, DC - Congressman Bobby Schilling (IL-17) today joined 390 of his colleagues from both sides of the aisle in supporting H.R. 3606, the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act.  The legislation also has won the support of President Barack Obama, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, the Independent Community Bankers of America, and successful entrepreneurs like AOL's Steve Case and Staples' founder Tom Stemberg, among others.

"This bipartisan legislation is about empowering American businesses to start up, hire American workers, and jumpstart our economy," Schilling said.  "It tackles head-on obstacles that are keeping our nation's job creators, small businesses, and entrepreneurs from growing and hiring.  I was proud to cosponsor this pro-jobs package, and am pleased to join so many of my colleagues from both sides of the aisle in supporting it today."

The common-sense legislative package includes a number of measures that reduce registration requirements between emerging small businesses and the SEC to boost the economy and create opportunities for entrepreneurs across the country, without the threat of higher taxes.  These bipartisan measures will increase access to capital, spur the formation of startups and small businesses, and enable more small businesses to go public and grow. 

"The talking heads on the TV and radio like to say that Washington just can't come together and get things done, but I don't buy that,"  Schilling said.  "I focus on what we can do to improve things for my constituents and make it easier for them to succeed, not on what we can't.  My colleagues and I in the House have passed dozens of bills that would help the economy and decrease energy costs, and our work is far from over."

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Fellow Iowans,

On March 7th, the Iowa Senate Ways and Means Subcommittee advanced a bill that would raise Iowa's Gas Tax by 10 cents per gallon.

Click here to take our survey and tell us whether or not you support raising Iowa's Gas Tax from 21 cents to 31 cents per gallon.

In liberty,

A.J. Spiker

Chairman, Republican Party of Iowa