Civil Rights Act of 1991

Civil Rights Act of 1991
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleCivil Rights Act of 1991
Enacted bythe 102nd United States Congress
Citations
Public lawPub. L. 102-166
Codification
Acts amended
Titles amendedTitle 42—Public Health And Welfare
U.S.C. sections amended1981 et seq.
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the Senate as S.1745 by John Danforth (RMO) on September 24, 1991
  • Passed the Senate on October 30, 1991[1] (93–5)
  • Passed the House on November 7, 1991[2] (381–38)
  • Signed into law by President George H. W. Bush on November 21, 1991

The Civil Rights Act of 1991[3] is a United States labor law, passed in response to United States Supreme Court decisions that limited the rights of employees who had sued their employers for discrimination. The Act represented the first effort since the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to modify some of the basic procedural and substantive rights provided by federal law in employment discrimination cases. It provided the right to trial by jury on discrimination claims and introduced the possibility of emotional distress damages and limited the amount that a jury could award. It added provisions to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protections expanding the rights of women to sue and collect compensatory and punitive damages for sexual discrimination or harassment.

United States President George H. W. Bush had used his veto against the more comprehensive Civil Rights Act of 1990. He feared racial quotas would be imposed but later approved the 1991 version of the bill.[4]

  1. ^ "S. 1745 (102nd): Civil Rights Act of 1991". GovTrack.us.
  2. ^ "S. 1745 (102nd): Civil Rights Act of 1991". GovTrack.us.
  3. ^ "S.1745 - Civil Rights Act of 1991". Congress.gov. Library of Congress. October 30, 1991. Archived from the original on April 15, 2024. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  4. ^ Devroy, Ann. "Bush Vetoes Civil Rights Bill; Measure Said to Encourage Job Quotas; Women, Minorities Sharply Critical." Washington Post 23 October 1990, Print.