Civil Rights and Quotas
The magic: A “quota bill” becomes a non-quota bill overnight. How? By the realization that the “quota bill” might be made even stronger, offering women equal protection, and that the Senate might have enough votes to override a veto.
The travesty: Women remain second-class citizens in the eyes of the Senate and may not be awarded the same damages for intentional sex discrimination/harassment as victims of race discrimination.
The reality: All the railing about a rash of non-meritorious suits is nonsense. Most of the cases are handled by lawyers on a contingency fee basis because victims of discrimination rarely have sufficient funds to pay a lawyer. Few lawyers would bring a claim without merit when he/she is likely to lose the case and get no fee for hundreds of hours of work.
KATHARINE GREENEBAUM, West Los Angeles
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