Bill to Ban Discrimination in Workers’ Compensation Passes California Committee After Powerful Testimony of Milton Jones—But Not

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

The California Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee voted yesterday today to approve Sen. Carole Migden’s SB 1115 to ban race, gender and age discrimination in awarding disability compensation to workers injured on the job after hearing compelling testimony from Milton Jones, pictured at right.

Jones told the committee: “The medical examiner said half of my disability was due to the fact that I am African-American. He reasoned that since African-Americans as a group have higher incidence of hypertension, that must have caused one-half of my disability. I was stunned. I didn’t think that you could penalize an injured worker for his race. I didn’t put my life on the line in the Middle East so African-Americans could be awarded half of what an Anglo man with the same injury would receive.” Jones broke down into tears at the end of his testimony.

The bill passed the committee on a 3-2 party line vote with Republican Senators Mark Wyland and Dick Ackerman voting against banning discrimination. It was opposed, unless amended, by a host of lobbyists from the insurance industry, the California Chamber of Commerce, and employers including restaurants, who expressed vague concerns about the language of the bill. These opposition witnesses spoke of working in a “coalition,” and did not have any language or suggested amendment to offer. Their first witness, Jason Schmelzer representing the California Chamber of Commerce and the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, when pressed as to what he proposed, said “It’s tough to put into language.”

All of the opposition witnesses said they were appalled at what had happened to Mr. Jones. Other witnesses spoke in favor of the bill including individuals and those from California Labor Federation, the California Society of Industrial Medicine and Surgery, and the California State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

You can read the text of the bill and see that the language added is the following:

“Race, religious creed, color, national origin, age, gender, marital status, sex, or genetic predisposition shall not be considered a cause or other factor of disability with regard to any determination made under this section.”

I find it simply amazing that there are those in 21st Century California would have a problem with that plain and simple language.

At the end of the hearing, Senator Sheila Kuehl, who had repeatedly asked opposition witnesses for language they were proposing, had this to say: