Kirk's pay equity vote misunderstood
Congressman Mark Kirk has been criticized unfairly over the last couple of days and it's time to set the record straight.
Dan Seals has organized a negative letter to the editor campaign and even held a press conference to mislead voters and attack Kirk for his vote against the so-called Paycheck Fairness Act in late July.
The Paycheck Fairness Act is anything but fair. It removes women's right to control their own legal options by automatically enrolling them in class action lawsuits where the class action lawyers routinely take 30 percent or more off the top.
It also removes the $300,000 cap on punitive damages, yet another giveaway to the lawyers.
A more honest name for the bill would have been the Class Action Lawyers Payoff Act.
Anyone who follows Kirk's votes knows the charge that he isn't for equal rights is laughable.
He co-sponsored the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which, for the first time, placed a federal ban on discriminating against gays and lesbians in the workplace. He's also voted for, or sponsored, numerous bills expanding opportunities for women around the world.
Anyone who tells you that Kirk is against equality either doesn't know very much, or they have a political agenda.
Women do face unique challenges in the workplace. But giving the class action lawyers a whole new source of lawsuits is not the way to help working women.
Neither is attacking a congressman who has fought for them his entire career.
June O'Donoghue
Northfield