The Bush administration on Friday proposed an alternative civil rights bill that would allow women to collect up to $150,000 as compensation for work-related sexual harassment.
The sexual harassment provision was contained in proposed legislation sent to Capitol Hill as an alternative to civil rights legislation President Bush vetoed last fall, now being pushed anew this year by Democrats.The Democratic proposal is intended to overturn a series of 1989 Supreme Court rulings that civil rights lawyers say make it harder for plaintiffs to win employment discrimination suits.
Bush vetoed the legislation last year, saying that it would encourage employers to adopt hiring quotas as a way of avoiding lawsuits.
The administration has reiterated its opposition to much of the Democratic bill, which is on a fast track in both the House and the Senate where supporters are trying to get enough votes to prevent another veto.