Business and Rights Groups Fail In Effort to Draft Bill on Job Bias
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In the face of strong opposition from the White House and small businesses, an effort by leading corporations and civil rights groups to draft a job discrimination bill collapsed today. The man who initiated the effort, Robert C. Allen, chairman and chief executive of American Telephone and Telegraph, said his company was pulling out of the negotiations because his efforts at compromise were being undercut by “all sides of the issue.” The A.T.&T. decision is a serious blow to efforts by civil rights groups and their Democratic allies in Congress to devise a civil rights bill that will attract enough Congressional support to override a likely White House veto. A Democratic bill pending in the House would almost certainly be vetoed by President Bush, who rejected a similar measure last year and was able to make his veto stand. Business executives familiar with the discussions say Mr. Allen had become increasingly frustrated by the unwillingness of the civil rights groups to compromise on the issue of the amount juries could award to plaintiffs who prove intentional discrimination by employers. At the same time, the White House, especially C. Boyden Gray, the White House Counsel, as well as John H. Sununu, the White House chief of staff, have nurtured opposition within the business community to the discussions. On Thursday Mr. Sununu and Mr. Gray convened a meeting at the White House of 30 representatives of trade associations opposed to the talks. At that meeting, the White House officials expressed their displeasure with the negotiations. Civil rights groups said today that it was the White House pressure that primarily influenced Mr. Allen. The Political Process “The fact of the matter is the political process has overtaken our activities,” Mr. Allen said in a telephone interview from the A.T.&T. offices in Basking Ridge, N.J. “We can only be useful if we are invited into the process, and it appears that parties on all sides of the issue are trying to scuttle our activities.” More : query.nytimes.com |