Debra Katz Speaks to BNA About Progress on Wage Equality

Katz Banks Kumin partner Debra S. Katz was quoted in a Bloomberg BNA Daily Labor Report article entitled “Here’s How Plaintiffs’ Attorneys Would Close Pay Gap.”  In the article, Ms. Katz discussed the inadequacy of current law governing wage equality, explaining that “[t]he Equal Pay Act is an insufficient piece of legislation to address the persistent wage gap.  Because of job segregation and the way workplaces are set up, it’s often difficult to compare how men and women are being paid.”  The Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA), a piece of unpassed legislation which has been bouncing around Congress since 1997, seeks to resolve this issue by protecting workers from retaliation for inquiring about or sharing pay information.  Not only would the increased transparency resulting from the PFA mean employers may be less likely to discriminate in pay in the first place, but as Ms. Katz explained to BNA, it would also help employees prove liability in claims that their employer violated the Equal Pay Act.