Page 7 - aruba-today-20190711

A7
U.S. NEWS Thursday 11 July 2019

NY expands pay equity law on day

honoring U.S. soccer team

By DAVID KLEPPER court.
Associated Press “Every New Yorker deserves
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New equal pay for equal work
York state expanded a regardless of race, sexual
state law Wednesday that orientation, disability, or
prohibits gender pay dis- however they choose to
crimination, making it il- identify,” said Democratic
legal to pay someone less Sen. Alessandra Biaggi,
based on characteristics who represents portions of
including race, religion, dis- Westchester County and
ability or gender identity. the Bronx and sponsored
Democratic Gov. Andrew the bill in the state Senate.
Cuomo signed the chang- It’s already illegal in New
es into law in Manhattan, York to pay women less
just before joining the U.S. than men for doing the
women’s soccer team for same work, yet compensa- Megan Rapinoe holds the Women’s World Cup trophy as the
a parade in New York City tion for women continues U.S. women’s soccer team is celebrated with a parade along
honoring their World Cup to lag, with white women the Canyon of Heroes, Wednesday, July 10, 2019, in New York.
victory. making 89 cents for every Associated Press
Members of the team have $1 earned by men, ac- courage to play to win on treatment with the men’s
filed a lawsuit demanding cording to state statistics. the field, to fight for fair- team, which failed to qual-
pay equity with the men’s For black and Latina wom- ness in court, and to spark ify for the 2018 men’s World
soccer team, adding fuel en, the gap is wider. They a new, global conversation Cup.
to the broader debate earn, respectively, 63 cents about pay equity.” Cuomo noted the wom-
over pay disparities that and 54 cents for every $1 Cuomo also signed legisla- en’s victory and strong
continue to affect millions earned by men. tion barring employers from television ratings for their
of American workers. TIME’S UP, an organization demanding prospective games could support an
The new law, which takes that advocates for fairness workers’ salary histories. argument that the women
effect in 90 days, also and against sexual harass- During a bill signing cer- deserve higher pay than
changes a legal standard ment in the workplace, emony held just before the men.
for pay equity to make it hailed the new law and Wednesday’s parade, “You cannot justify that the
easier for employees to thanked the soccer play- Cuomo said he supports men get paid more, pe-
prove discrimination in ers for “their extraordinary the players’ push for equal riod,” he said.q
Court reviews judge who told woman

to ‘close your legs’

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A When the woman an-
New Jersey judge who told swered affirmatively and
a woman she could “close said one method would be
your legs” to prevent a sex- to run away, Russo contin-
ual assault is “remorseful,” ued, “Close your legs? Call
his lawyer said. the police? Did you do any
Judge John Russo Jr. did of those things?”
not speak Tuesday dur- He also made joking com-
ing a disciplinary hearing ments to staffers about the
before the state Supreme exchange after the woman
Court. But his lawyer, Ame- had left the courtroom, ac-
lia Carolla, told the justices cording to a report issued
Russo has “learned his les- by an ethics committee.
son” and he “will not do this Russo was put on adminis-
again.” trative leave in 2017 and
Russo has previously said he reassigned to a different
was seeking more informa- county court in December. In this Oct. 17, 2018 file photo, Superior Court Judge John F.
tion and wasn’t trying to In April, the ethics com- Russo appears for his hearing before the Advisory Committee
humiliate the woman. mittee called his conduct on Judicial Conduct at Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex in
The woman appeared be- “discourteous and inappro- Trenton, N.J.
fore Russo in 2016 seeking priate” and recommend- Associated Press
a restraining order against ed he be suspended for sions, including when he “If the court were to de-
a man she said sexually as- three months without pay, ruled on an alimony case cide that he could not
saulted her. though several dissenting in which he acknowledged preside over these sorts of
According to a transcript members felt a six-month he knew both parties. sensitive matters, like the
of the exchange, when the suspension would be more At Tuesday’s hearing, Chief conduct here, how could
woman described her en- appropriate. The Supreme Justice Stuart Rabner ques- he then serve anywhere
counter with the man, Rus- Court will issue a final deter- tioned how a sex assault in the system without the
so asked her, “Do you know mination. victim could have confi- same types of concerns
how to stop somebody The committee also con- dence in the judicial pro- about public confidence in
from having intercourse cluded Russo violated rules cess if Russo remains on the our judicial system arising?”
with you?” of conduct on other occa- bench. Rabner asked.q