Obama proposes letting the jobless sue for discrimination

[rsmith6621]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/obama-proposes-letting-jobless-sue-discrimination-191042168.html

Advocates for the unemployed have cheered a push by the Obama administration to ban discrimination against the jobless. But business groups and their allies are calling the effort unnecessary and counterproductive.

The job creation bill that President Obama sent to Congress earlier this month includes a provision that would allow unsuccessful job applicants to sue if they think a company of 15 more employees denied them a job because they were unemployed.

The provision would ban employment ads that explicitly declare the unemployed ineligible, with phrases like "Jobless need not apply." As The Lookout has reported, such ads appear to have proliferated in recent years, prompting an inquiry by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Democratic lawmakers in both the House and the Senate have introduced similar measures. Obama said recently that discrimination against the unemployed makes "absolutely no sense," especially because many people find themselves out of work through no fault of their own.

[RKP5637]

1. K&R!!! n/t

[msongs]

2. or they could cut military welfare spending by 500 billion a year and free up the economy nt

[bluestateguy]

3. If businesses would just step up hiring this would not be a problem for them

It's time for business to lead the recovery rather than waiting around for it to happen on its own.

[MadHound]

11. Do you honestly think that they will do that?

First of all, if they are a publicly held company, legal obligations would prevent them from taking on more labor needlessly, since that would cut into the shareholders' profit margins.

Second, basic economics. You are not going to hire more workers to make more widgets when there isn't increased demand.

Third, corporations are, by their very nature, amoral. They exist to create profit, that's it. They aren't going to look after the welfare of people or the welfare of the country.

Fourth, a slack labor market means that they can pay their employees less.

This is why the government needs to step in with a WPA style job creation program. This is the role the government was designed to fulfill. However we have a dysfunctional government, have had one for a long time, so this isn't going to happen.

[lonestarnot]

4. So, what about global warming deniers? What about sue them?

[FarLeftFist]

5. Corporations are psychopaths who are holding America hostage until they're demands are met.

Economic sociopaths.

[OHdem10]

6. Way back when we were hit with the fact that we were in the worse

financial crisis in history since Great Depression

We were losing jobs at about 790,OOO Christne Romans CNN
Ali Velshi CNN, Your Money. Christine Romans explained
at one point that the companies were resetting their businesses
and having only enough workers to operate effectively.
Increasing work loads on those workers retained. They were
in the position of cherry picking and having only the
very top performers. Early on the word was out--they
were not hiring laid off workers. The workers who are
there carry heavier loads because they fear losing their
jobs.

[izquierdista]

7. Thinking like a $#!%#@@&! lawyer again

Now how is the unemployed schmoe supposed to come up with a retainer to pay the lawyer? Oh, you say a lawyer will do it on a contingen$y or as part of a cla$$ action? Well, we know who gets most of the proceeds of that circus half a decade later.

All this amounts to is another way for that fraternity who have passed the bar to put a claim on the wealth of corporations, with maybe a trickle dripping down to the working class who will still be getting the shaft.

[cloudbase]

8. It's easy to allege,

and very hard to prove.

[ThomCat]

10. Seriously, how would anybody prove this?

How would anybody who is out of work afford the cost of getting this to court?

Does anyone really think there would be even a single case brought to court unless an organization with deep pockets pays for it?

Does anyone really think it's likely that anyone could ever win such a case?

This really looks like symbolic, but meaningless and totally ineffective nonsense designed to convince stupid people to vote for him.

It is always easier to offer meaningless symbolic gestures that don't change anything, but make people like you, than to actually do anything that might cause real changes and get corporations upset.

[rsmith6621]

12. I Have seen Ads on Indeed,Monster and Craigslist stating...

...If your not employed basically don't bother applying... So I guess if you found a job posting you would have a case.

[Jamastiene]

9. I hope that passes.

[midnight]

13. How are the jobless going to be able to finance cost of using the courts..