The Wisconsin state Senate passed a bill Tuesday forcing employers who practice job discrimination to pay punitive damages, a measure intended to prevent economic inequality.?

The bill arose from concerns of the Department of Workforce Development, which found employers in the state fired, refused to hire or discriminated against individuals in promotion, compensation, or privileges on the basis of race, color, disability, marital status, gender, origin, etc.?

The bill allows employees who claim discrimination to receive up to $300,000 in damages, including punitive damages, based on a jury’s decision in circuit courts.

Carrie Lynch, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Weston, said Democrats voted in favor of the bill because it ensures a person who is discriminated against in the work place can pursue legal options to protect themselves.?

“It could apply to anyone. It could be a woman feels she’s paid less than males doing the same job,” Lynch said.?

The bill will ensure everyone will be paid equally, Lynch said, adding it will also protect against older employees who are fired because businesses feel it is cheaper to hire someone younger.

Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton said she was also in favor of the bill and is especially concerned with women’s working rights as Tuesday was National Pay Equity Day.?

“I think, in part, [discrimination] exists because we have lingering practices in both public and private sectors and sometimes institutions that perpetuate discrimination against women,” Lawton said. “This doesn’t mean [they] do it with the intent to discriminate, but these practices are so engrained. … It’s hard to break that stride.”

However, the majority of Republicans voted against the bill, arguing the $300,000 punitive damage reward included in the bill will weaken business in the state.?

Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, said he believes the bill is the most “anti-business labor bill” he has seen in the Legislature in 15 years.?

“For big companies, $300,000 in punitive damages is just another way in which we put Wisconsin business at a competitive disadvantage to its neighbors,” Grothman said. “Worse, this bill does not include school districts, counties or cities. In other words, if a business discriminates, a jury can fine $300,000 if there are at least 500 people in the business.”

If the bill passes the Assembly, Grothman said Republicans will ask the governor to veto it, especially because people will now file “more frivolous claims.”?

In a statement, Grothman said Wisconsin already has 3,500 claims of job discrimination and 85 percent “don’t even meet a probable cause determination.”

Kimber Liedl, spokesperson for Senate Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said the senator voted against the bill because of the high amount for punitive damages.

“The thing is, punitive damages are higher in Wisconsin than any of our surrounding states,” Liedl said. “Surrounding states do not have punitive damages except in Minnesota — they’re $25,000. [Fitzgerald’s] concern is that it could put our state at a disadvantage trying to get employers to work here or relocate here.”?

The bill will be voted on in the Assembly this morning.