Why did Arnold do it?
Do you have any idea how much it will cost California employers to provide sexual harassment training to hundreds of thousands of "supervisors" in California? (Jackson Lewis says there are 1.7 million supervisors in California; overall, there's around 14 to 17 million employees in California.)
Why'd the state administration do it? Why cost California employers millions of dollars each year? There are the usual arguments: Training is effective to eliminate discriminatory misconduct, it's good social policy, it's about time (after all, Title VII has prohibited sex discrimination for 40 years, and female employees in California have had the right to wear pants for 10 years), it's a useful social experiment to maintain California's cutting-edge reputation, and so on.
My guess? I'd bet Arnold was too embarrassed to veto the bill. (Remember this and this and this sort of thing?) Otherwise, Arnold's practically in bed with the Chamber of Commerce (other than official events on his inaugural day, he partied only with family and the Chamber); Arnold signed-and-vetoed pro-Chamber (pro-employer) almost all the way. The Chamber opposed AB 1825 — until Arnold signed the bill. Now they sell AB 1825 training for about $200 per supervisor.
Why'd the state administration do it? Why cost California employers millions of dollars each year? There are the usual arguments: Training is effective to eliminate discriminatory misconduct, it's good social policy, it's about time (after all, Title VII has prohibited sex discrimination for 40 years, and female employees in California have had the right to wear pants for 10 years), it's a useful social experiment to maintain California's cutting-edge reputation, and so on.
My guess? I'd bet Arnold was too embarrassed to veto the bill. (Remember this and this and this sort of thing?) Otherwise, Arnold's practically in bed with the Chamber of Commerce (other than official events on his inaugural day, he partied only with family and the Chamber); Arnold signed-and-vetoed pro-Chamber (pro-employer) almost all the way. The Chamber opposed AB 1825 — until Arnold signed the bill. Now they sell AB 1825 training for about $200 per supervisor.
This entry was posted
on Saturday, February 26, 2005 at 8:51 PM.
