Bill Fighting Pay Discrimination Reintroduced By Heights Rep

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — To commemorate Equal Pay Day, state Rep. Janine Boyd co-introduced legislation that would allow Ohioans to anonymously report wage discrimination.

Boyd, who calls Cleveland Heights home, was joined in introducing the bill by state Rep. Erica Crawley, a Democrat from Columbus. Their legislation would create a toll-free equal pay hotline for workers to report wage discrimination or to gather information on if they are victims of pay discrimination.

The Ohio Civil Rights Commission would operate the pay equity hotline. Callers could be anonymous, but anonymity is not required.

“On this Equal Pay Day, let’s be better than we’ve been. Let us show our gratitude for all that women have done and will continue to do by closing the gender pay gap once and for all,” Boyd said.

The average working Ohio woman is paid 83 percent of her male counterpart, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nationally, the pay gap widens with different minority groups: Black women make 63 percent of their white male counterpart's salary, while Latina women are paid 55 cents for every $1 a white man makes, the American Association of University Women reported.