Senate Passes Bill - Prevents Domestic Violence Victims from Being Evicted

The California Senate just passed Bill SB 782, which prevents landlords from evicting domestic violence victims. This new bill will encourage victims to defend themselves and not face eviction from their home. Eviction has discouraged victims, female and male, to file complaints of domestic violence or sexual assault. SB 782 will encourage women to step forward.

Many landlords have a nuisance clause in their rental agreement that allows them to evict tenants if there is a lot of noise, disturbance, police activity or complaints. When landlords evict domestic violence victims, it's like being victimized again by being pressured to move. Many of these domestic violence victims which are mostly women, end up homeless. Under SB 782, landlords would not be allowed to use their lease clause to evict women under these circumstances. Landlords however can evict the perpetrator of the abuse. It should also be stated that the law presently allows a victim to break their lease and go to a victim's shelter if they choose to do so.

SB 782 will protect victims, women or men, from being evicted only if they show a written statement by a qualified third party, such as a police officer, licensed clinical social worker or therapist. The tenant however, will still be responsible for the lease payments and other clauses.

If you are a victim of domestic violence or if you want to report an incident of domestic violence, call the 24-hour-a-day toll-free National Hotline at 1-(800) 799-SAFE or 1-(800) 787-3224 (TDD).

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act - SIGNED!

President Obama just signed this morning the bill that protects everyone from pay discrimination. A BIG step for WOMEN and minorities! History has been made today.

The following information is from the White House Blog:

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act will restore the law to where it was before the Supreme Court's decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Justice Ginsberg's dissent summarizes the facts of Ledbetter's complaint:

Lilly Ledbetter was a supervisor at Goodyear Tire and Rubber’s plant in Gadsden, Alabama, from 1979 until her retirement in 1998. For most of those years, she worked as an area manager, a position largely occupied by men. Initially, Ledbetter’s salary was in line with the salaries of men performing substantially similar work. Over time, however, her pay slipped in comparison to the pay of male area managers with equal or less seniority. By the end of 1997, Ledbetter was the only woman working as an area manager and the pay discrepancy between Ledbetter and her 15 male counterparts was stark: Ledbetter was paid $3,727 per month; the lowest paid male area manager received $4,286 per month, the highest paid, $5,236.

The Court ruled that employees subject to pay discrimination like Lilly Ledbetter must file a claim within 180 days of the employer's original decision to pay them less -- even if the employee continued to receive reduced paychecks and even if the employee did not discover the discriminatory reduction in pay until much later (check out Justice Alito's arguments in the Court's opinion). Restoring these rules means that complaints can be filed 180 days after any discriminatory paycheck.