,i  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #bbae  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,may #bd1 #bjac ,mr4 
,mc,dermott introduced the following    
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,education and the        
,workforce1 and in addition to the      
,committee on the ,judiciary1 for a     
period to be subsequently determined by 
the ,speaker1 in each case for          
consideration of such provisions as fall
 within the jurisdiction of the         
committee concerned  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
amend the ,civil ,rights ,act of #aiia  
with respect to the application of such 
,act4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may  
be cited as the ,justice for ,wards     
,cove ,workers ,act4  #b4 ,findings ,the
 ,congress finds the following3  7#a7   
,in #aigd1 ,frank ,atonio1 a ,united    
,states citizen of ,samoan descent1 and 
#i other minority salmon workers filed a
 class-action employment discrimination 
suit under the ,civil ,rights ,act of   
#aifd against ,wards ,cove ,packing     

,company that eventually involved #b1jjj
 workers of ,filipino1 ,samoan1         
,chinese1 ,japanese1 and ,alaska native 
descent4  7#b7 ,the lawsuit represented 
workers who charged that minority       
employees at ,wards ,cove's seasonal    
cannery in ,ketchikan1 ,alaska1 were    
discriminated based on their race4  7#c7
 ,nearly all of the company's unskilled1
 lower-paid cannery-line workers were   
ethnic minorities4 ,nearly all of the   
higher-paid machinists1 engineers1 and  
quality-control personnel were          
,caucasian4  7#d7 ,the #b groups lived  
in separate dormitories and ate in      
separate mess halls4 ,one machine was   
dubbed the ,iron ,chink1 and living     
quarters for ,filipino workers were     
referred to as the ,flip ,house4  7#e7  
,in #aihi1 the ,supreme ,court in ,wards
 ,cove ,packing ,co4 v4 ,atonio ruled in
 the company's favor1 #e-d1 rolling back
 plaintiff's rights in discrimination   
cases4 ,the court ruling shifted the    
burden of proof from employers to       

employees alleging workplace            
discrimination4  7#f7 ,undoing the legal
 precedent established by that court    
ruling became a critical impetus for the
 ,civil ,rights ,act of #aiia4  7#g7    
,section #djb7;b7 of the ,civil ,rights 
,act of #aiia contained an exception    
clause for cases in which a complaint   
was filed in #aige and decided in #aihc3
 ,notwithstanding any other provision of
 this ,act1 nothing in this ,act shall  
apply to any disparate impact case for  
which a complaint was filed before      
,march #a1 #aige1 and for which an      
initial decision was rendered after     
,october #cj1 #aihc4 ,only #a case falls
 within this exclusion1 that being the  
,wards ,cove case4  7#h7 ,section       
#djb7;b7 of such ,act effectively       
blocked the expansion of procedural and 
substantive rights provided by the      
,civil ,rights ,act of #aiia from taking
 effect to the very people whose lawsuit
 shed light into discrimination in the  
workplace4  7#i7 ,in ,march #aiic1      

,president ,william ,jefferson ,clinton 
announced his support to remove the     
exemption1 stating that ,it is contrary 
to all of our ideas to exclude any      
,american from the protection of our    
civil-rights laws4  7#aj7 ,the ,civil   
,rights ,act of #aiia is considered to  
be the most comprehensive civil rights  
legislation to pass ,congress since the 
,civil ,rights ,act of #aifd4 ,like the 
#aifd landmark ,act1 the #aiia ,act     
prohibits all discrimination in         
employment based on race1 gender1 color1
 religious1 or ethnic considerations4   
7#aa7 ,yet so long as ,section #djb7;b7 
of such ,act remains in place1 the      
,civil ,rights ,act of #aiia will always
 be marred as a law that is deeply      
discriminatory4  7#ab7 ,section #djb7;b7
 of such ,act remains a potent symbol of
 injustice among ,asian-,americans and  
civil rights groups4  #c4 ,amendments   
,section #djb of the ,civil ,rights ,act
 of #aiia 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #aiha note7 is 
amended--  7#a7 in subsection 7a7 by    

striking 7a7 ,in ,general4--2 and  7#b7 
by striking subsection 7b74  #d4        
,application and construction  7a7      
,application ,for purposes of           
determining the application of the      
amendments made by the ,civil ,rights   
,act of #aiia1 such amendments shall    
apply to a case that was subject to     
section #djb7;b7 of the ,civil ,rights  
,act of #aiia 7as in effect on the day  
before the date of enactment of this    
,act7 in the same manner and to the same
 extent as such amendments apply to any 
case brought under title ,,vii of the   
,civil ,rights ,act of #aifd 7#db       
,u4,s4,c4 #bjjj;e et seq47 that was not 
subject to section #djb7;b7 of the      
,civil ,rights ,act of #aiia4  7b7      
,construction ,nothing in this ,act     
shall be construed to alter1 or shall be
 considered to be evidence of1          
congressional intent regarding the      
application of such amendments to any   
case that was not subject to section    
#djb7;b7 of the ,civil ,rights ,act of  

#aiia4