April 18, 2013 08:47 AM UTC

GOP's Ugly Side Shows in Job Discrimination Debate

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• by: Colorado Pols

The Grand Junction Sentinel's Charles Ashby reports, another great story outside the paywall:

Small businesses, just like larger ones, could face employment discrimination lawsuits under a bill that won preliminary approval in the Colorado House on Wednesday.

The measure, HB1136, extends to employees who work in business with 14 or fewer workers the same right to file anti-discrimination lawsuits against their employers that workers in larger companies can do in federal court.

The bill also extends to all employees regardless of the size of the business they work for the ability to file such lawsuits in state court.

Republicans mounted an hours-long unsuccessful opposition effort to this bill yesterday, with some 20 amendments of (to put it charitably) wildly varying seriousness, and a full-on ragefest about this bill as an "attack on small business" and "job creation for trial lawyers." FOX 31's Eli Stokols covered the scene:

Republicans brought more than a dozen amendments, including one to rename House Bill 1136 the “Trial Lawyers Employment Act”, simply to make political points and drive their Democratic colleagues nuts.

They accomplished that goal before the bill’s passage on a second reading voice vote, which was never in doubt.

“As former minority whip, I certainly appreciate the minority’s right to vigorously debate and stand up for one’s ideals. But there is a difference between having a thorough debate than purposely filibustering and obstructing the work of the House,” said Majority Leader Dickey Lee Hullinghorst, D-Boulder.

This isn't the first time we've been struck by the choices by legislative Republicans on where to make their ideological grandstands. Obviously, a minority is going to use the legislative process to lodge their objections to bills they cannot stop as memorably as possible. As contentious as this legislative session has been, hours-long bombastic debates would seem to be the norm.

But as the Sentinel's Ashby continues…why this bill?

“This is a complete outrage to small businesses,” said Rep. Jared Wright, R-Fruita. “We’re punishing economic growth in the state. We’re allowing frivolous lawsuits by employees to punish these small business. Do you think that’s going to help economic growth?”

Wright, who employed a trial lawyer for his own employment case against the city of Fruita after he resigned as a police officer there, [Pols emphasis] said the bill would only lead to jobs for lawyers.

There's a really big problem with this argument. This bill simply gives employees at small businesses the same relief from proven discrimination that businesses with more than 15 employees already have under federal law. Nobody's "allowing frivolous lawsuits." The lawsuit must still prevail in a court of law. The only way Rep. Jared Wright's argument makes sense, in fact, is if you believe that all such discrimination lawsuits are "frivolous."

Folks, if that's what they really believe, we think it should be broadly publicized.