Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 2, 1991                   TAG: 9103020384
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

RIGHTS BILL HAS HARASSMENT CLAUSE

The sexual harassment provision was contained in proposed legislation sent to Capitol Hill as an alternative to civil-rights legislation Bush vetoed last fall, now being pushed anew this by Democrats.

The Democratic proposal is intended to overturn a series of 1989 Supreme Court rulings that civil-rights lawyers say make it harder for plaintiffs to win employment discrimination suits.

Bush vetoed the legislation last year, saying that it would encourage employers to adopt hiring quotas as a way of avoiding discrimination lawsuits.

The administration has reiterated its opposition to much of the Democratic bill, which is on a fast track in both the House and the Senate where supporters are trying to get enough votes to prevent another veto.

The administration proposal is similar in many respects to provisions it supported last year but was rejected by civil rights lobbyists.

The bill would reverse a 1989 decision that had relieved employers of the burden of proving that an allegedly discriminatory practice was necessary for successful business operation. The case of Wards Cove Packing Co. vs. Atonio had shifted the burden to the complainant to prove that the practice was not a business necessity.

The bill again places the burden of proof with the employer but contains a definition of "business necessity" that civil rights lobbyists found objectionable last year.