RESOLUTION TO MAKE CALIFORNIA WORK BETTER FOR WORKING WOMEN BY ADVANCING WORKPLACE EQUALITY AND MODERNIZING WORKER’S COMPENSATION LAWS
WHEREAS, women of all ages have 20-40% higher injury rates than men in the same jobs, and women’s injury rates increase with age as male rates decline with age, resulting in a 50% higher injury rate for women over the age of 55; additionally, 64% of mental stress claims are made by women caused by workplace abuse, including 35% of working women who are subject to sexual harassment, and
WHEREAS, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger pushed through CHANGES in Workers’ Compensation insurance that reduced permanent disability compensation for women, based on the assumption that lower bone density caused by osteoporosis, pregnancy and menopause are the true causes for many workplace injuries for women. This gender discrimination runs contrary to the Patient Protections And Affordable Care Act, a central tenet of which is that being a woman is not a pre-existing medical condition.
WHEREAS, Governor Schwarzenegger’s changes and other discriminatory policies are deeply embedded into the workers compensation system, as evidenced by the facts that carpal tunnel syndrome – a disorder that disproportionately effects women – too often has a disability rating of 0%; that breast cancer contracted as a result of dangerous workplace exposures has a disability rating of 0% for many women; and the fact that first-responder...
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