Davis Signs Bill Protecting Older Workers
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SACRAMENTO — Legislation giving older workers more protection against layoffs was signed into law by Gov. Gray Davis on Monday.
The new law overturns a 1997 appeals court decision that said laying off older workers to cut salaries did not constitute age discrimination.
The law holds that the use of salary as a basis for selecting which workers should be terminated constitutes age discrimination.
The bill’s author, Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Whittier), said the new law will act as “a security blanket against the cold insensitivity of age discrimination.”
Nearly 15,000 claims of age discrimination have been filed in California in the last five years, she said.
Gov. Pete Wilson, Davis’ Republican predecessor, vetoed similar legislation last year.
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