Civil Rights News: Payroll Tax Cut, Susan G. Komen Official Resigns, Wal-Mart Women Fight Discrimination

The Payroll Tax Fight
Editorial
New York Times

Recent economic reports and unemployment figures have nurtured a feeling of cautious optimism within the United States. The country finally seemed to be on a path out of the Great Recession. Last December, Republican and Democratic Congressmen fought over a 2-percentage-point payroll tax break for wage-earners. The Democrats and President Obama won an initial victory by extending the payroll tax cut through February. Now, the payroll tax dilemma needs a more permanent solution before the extension expires in three weeks. Eliminating the tax cut would force more than 160 million Americans to pay the government an additional $1,000 in taxes, which would jeopardize much of the progress made in the economic recovery and hurt the hardest hit citizens.

Komen Vice President Karen Handel Resigns
By Sarah Kliff and N.C. Aizenman
Washington Post

Karen Handel, vice president of public policy at Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, resigned on Tuesday after suffering the backlash from the controversial decision to pull funding from Planned Parenthood. Reports differ about Ms. Handel’s involvement in the foundation’s decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood. However, Handel had previously promised to defund Planned Parenthood during an unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 2010. Her notoriety as an opponent of Planned Parenthood resulted in women’s rights advocacy groups and online petitions calling for her resignation.

Female Wal-Mart Employees File Sex-Discrimination Claims
By Shan Li
Los Angeles Times

“The fight continues to seek justice for the women employees of Wal-Mart,” said Joseph Sellers, one of the attorneys representing the women, in a statement.

After a national class-action lawsuit was blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court last year, more than 500 female employees of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have filed discrimination claims against the retailer with the U.S. Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission.
Last year, a total of 1.5 million women working at Wal-Mart tried to defend their right to file grievances against Wal-Mart as a class action suit, pointing to discrimination on pay and promotions in the workplace. Nonetheless, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against them, stating that proof that the company has a policy of paying women and minorities less was necessary for such a class-action suit.
If statistics that these women are earning less and receiving fewer promotions than men isn’t proof, then what is? Although these claims haven’t been heard on their merits, the Wal-Mart women’s fight for equal pay continues.

Compiled by Spring 2012 Interns Wally McElwain and Isabella Acosta-Rubio