New bill would ban discrimination against jobless

Zachary Roth
·Senior National Affairs Reporter

Over the last year or so, America's jobs crisis has been accompanied by a troubling trend: discrimination against the jobless.

As we wrote last month, there's evidence that a growing number of employers are posting job listings that explicitly tell the unemployed not to apply. "No layoff candidates considered," read one. Another was from the cellphone giant Sony Ericsson--which the company later called a "mistake."

At a time when long-term joblessness is a record high, the practice puts what some say is yet another obstacle in front of Americans who aren't working--often through no fault of their own. It's not illegal to discriminate against the unemployed. But Rep. Hank Johnson (pictured), a Georgia Democrat, wants to change that. This week, he introduced a bill that would extend the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act so that it bars discrimination against the jobless just as it bars discrimination on the basis of race or age.

Johnson's measure stands little chance of passing the GOP-controlled House. But he argues that there's a principle at stake. "Discrimination against the unemployed smacks of days gone by when signs read, 'women need not apply,' 'Irish need not apply' or 'no Blacks allowed,' Johnson said in a statement.

Advocates for the jobless have argued that discriminating against the unemployed may be illegal under current law, because it disproportionately hurts African-Americans and seniors--both protected classes that are illegal to discriminate against. At Johnson's request, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has been examining that possibility. In February, the commission held a hearing at which several instances of jobseekers being turned away because they were unemployed were recounted.

Some employers have said they're reluctant to hire the jobless, because people who have previously been let go are unlikely to be the best candidates. And even Fed chair Ben Bernanke has said that people's skills can erode if they're out of work for a long time.

But some hiring experts counter that many unemployed people were laid off through no fault of their own, so by excluding a large pool of workers from their hiring search, employers are shooting themselves in the foot.

(Ric Feld/AP)