Community Commentary:

Is it discriminatory to honor mothers on Mother’s Day? The answer to that question might very well be yes, given the crazy types of lawsuits we see in California.

Dozens of lawsuits have been filed in our state alleging that any special recognition of mothers violates the rights of men. The latest twist to these types of frivolous lawsuits involves employees that have been forced to take time off from their job without pay because of the economic downturn. It seems that some sympathetic restaurants and retailers have offered these employees discounts on meals or services. These businesses are now being threatened with lawsuits claiming that they are discriminating against other customers.

These latest shakedown lawsuits not only trivialize our state’s landmark civil rights protections for private gain, but such abuse of our laws also illustrates a serious flaw in the legal system. Harassing lawsuits have become more and more common in recent years as greedy individuals have twisted the intent of civil statutes to benefit themselves. These actions are symptomatic of our practice of enforcing state statute through private legal action and far too often end up punishing honest businesses and slowing our economy.

Along with Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod, I have written Senate Bill 367, which, if passed, would stop shakedown lawsuits against businesses that try to help public or private employees whose salaries have been cut and face uncertain employment. Our bill will clarify current law, and establish that it is not a violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act for a business to provide discounts to groups of people who have suffered a loss or reduction in employment.

According to a survey done by California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse and the National Federation of Independent Business-California, 98% of respondents believe that lawsuits have hurt our economy, one-third of small businesses have been sued in the last five years and six-in-10 small business owners have been threatened by lawsuits during the same period of time.

What’s next? Should we expect to see unscrupulous attorneys go after the restaurant owner who gives your 87-year-old grandmother a senior discount for the early bird dinner special?

Sen. TOM HARMAN represents District 35.