New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has vetoed legislation that would have prohibited employers from requesting salary history information from prospective employees. As previously reported, the prohibition would have been enacted through amendments to the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination. In vetoing the bill, Governor Christie reaffirmed his commitment to ending wage discrimination but felt the law, as written, was too broad and “would punish, as discriminatory, otherwise innocuous conduct done with neither discriminatory intent nor a discriminatory impact.”
State Assembly member Joann Downey (D-Monmouth), who authored the bill, reportedly decried Governor Christie’s veto as “an insult to New Jersey women and an insult to middle class families who are suffering because of lost wages caused by the gender wage gap.”
This is not the first time Governor Christie has vetoed legislation aimed at remedying pay discrimination. Governor Christie previously vetoed a bill that would have expanded wage protections, including requiring equal pay for “substantially similar work.”
Stay tuned to the Jackson Lewis Pay Equity Advisor blog for updates on new and pending legislation.