Fairness and Individual Rights Necessary to Ensure a Stronger Society: Civil Rights Act of 2004
Latest action · Feb 12, 2004 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S1297-1308)
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedFeb 12, 2004
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Fairness and Individual Rights Necessary to Ensure a Stronger Society: Civil Rights Act of 2004 - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Education Amendments of 1972, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 to set forth requirements for: (1) establishing discrimination based on disparate impact; and (2) rights of action and recovery for unlawful discrimination (intentional or based on disparate impact) and harassment.
Amends the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to provide that a State's receipt or use of Federal financial assistance for a State program or activity shall constitute a waiver of sovereign immunity to a suit under such Acts by a program employee.
Amends the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986 to authorize civil actions in Federal court for discrimination based on disability.
Settlement Encouragement and Fairness Act - Modifies the definition of "prevailing party" for purposes of provisions governing the recovery of attorney's fees to include a party whose pursuit of a non-frivolous claim or defense was a catalyst for a voluntary or unilateral change in position by the opposing party that provides any significant part of the relief sought.
Preservation of Civil Rights Protections Act of 2004 - Makes arbitration clauses in employment contracts unenforceable, with exceptions. Authorizes recovery of expert fees by prevailing parties in civil rights actions.
Equal Remedies Act of 2004 - Repeals provisions limiting the amount of compensatory and punitive damages that may be awarded in cases of intentional discrimination in employment.
Paycheck Fairness in Employment - Amends FLSA to revise provisions governing discrimination in the payment of wages, including equal pay requirements. Establishes the Secretary of Labor's National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace.
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit denying back-pay or other monetary relief for unlawful employment practices against undocumented immigrant workers.
Cosponsors 26
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 12, 2004 to Jun 25, 2004; 18 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MD | Barbara A. Mikulski | Original | Feb 12, 2004 |
| D-NY | Charles E. Schumer | Original | Feb 12, 2004 |
| D-CT | Christopher J. Dodd | Original | Feb 12, 2004 |
| D-NJ | Frank R. Lautenberg | Original | Feb 12, 2004 |
| D-NV | Harry Reid | Original | Feb 12, 2004 |
| D-NY | Hillary Rodham Clinton | Original | Feb 12, 2004 |
| D-NC | John Edwards | Original | Feb 12, 2004 |
| D-MA | John F. Kerry | Original | Feb 12, 2004 |
| D-NJ | Jon S. Corzine | Original | Feb 12, 2004 |
| D-WA | Maria Cantwell | Original | Feb 12, 2004 |
| D-LA | Mary L. Landrieu | Original | Feb 12, 2004 |
| D-VT | Patrick J. Leahy | Original | Feb 12, 2004 |
| D-WA | Patty Murray | Original | Feb 12, 2004 |
| D-MD | Paul S. Sarbanes | Original | Feb 12, 2004 |
| D-IL | Richard J. Durbin | Original | Feb 12, 2004 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee | Referred Feb 13, 2004 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Feb 12, 2004Introduced in Senate
- Feb 12, 2004Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S1296-1297)
- Feb 12, 2004Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S1297-1308)
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senate | Debate and remarks S1296, S1308Text printed S1297–S1308 | Edward M. Kennedy D-MA (text), Tom Harkin D-IA | Feb 12, 2004 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Hrg. 108-280 | TRANSPORTATION AND AIR QUALITY: CMAQ AND CONFORMITY PROGRAMS143 pages | Environment and Public Works Committee | Mar 13, 2003 |
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 3809 | Fairness and Individual Rights Necessary to Ensure a Stronger Society: Civil Rights Act of 2004 | Identical bill | Mar 11, 2004 |
Titles 9
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to restore, reaffirm, and reconcile legal rights and remedies under civil rights statutes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Fairness and Individual Rights Necessary to Ensure a Stronger Society: Civil Rights Act of 2004
- Short Titles as Introduced for portions of this bill
- Paycheck Fairness Act
- Equal Remedies Act of 2004
- Preservation of Civil Rights Protections Act of 2004
- Older Workers' Rights Restoration Act of 2004
- Settlement Encouragement and Fairness Act
- Workers' Minimum Wage and Overtime Rights Restoration Act of 2004
- Popular Titles
- Civil Rights Act of 2004
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues.
- Administrative procedure
- Administrative remedies
- Age discrimination
- Airlines
- Alien labor
- Aliens
- Armed Forces and National Security
- Armed forces reserves
- Awards, medals, prizes
- Civil actions and liability
- Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
- Civil rights enforcement
- Class actions (Civil procedure)
- Commemorations
- Commerce
- Conferences
- Consumer credit
- Damages
- Decision making
- Disabled
- Disciplining of employees
- Discrimination against the disabled
- Discrimination in consumer credit
- Discrimination in education
- Discrimination in employment
- Dismissal of employees
- Economics and Public Finance
- Education
- Elementary and secondary education
- Elementary education
- Employee rights
- Employee training
- Employers' liability
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- Evidence (Law)
- Expert witnesses
- Federal aid programs
- Federal employees
- Federally-guaranteed loans
- Finance and Financial Sector
- Freedom of information
- Government and business
- Government contractors
- Government lending
- Government liability
- Government Operations and Politics
- Government paperwork
- Government publicity
- Governmental investigations
- Grievance procedures
- Higher education
- Hours of labor
- Housing and Community Development
- Housing discrimination
- Illegal aliens
- Immigration
- Industrial arbitration
- Injunctions
- Juries
- Labor and Employment
- Labor contracts
- Labor statistics
- Labor unions
- Law
- Legal fees
- Liability (Law)
- Limitation of actions
- Minimum wages
- Minorities
- National Guard
- Negligence
- Older workers
- Pay equity
- Punitive damages
- Racial discrimination
- Right of privacy
- School administration
- School personnel
- Secondary education
- Sex discrimination
- Sexual harassment
- Social Welfare
- Special education
- State employees
- Students' rights
- Surveys
- Transportation and Public Works
- Transportation and the disabled
- Unfair labor practices
- Veterans' employment
- Vocational rehabilitation
- Voting rights
- Wage restitution
- Wages
- Whistle blowing
- Women
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 12, 2004Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.