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KPBS Midday Edition

Legal Update: Michael Crowe, Job Applications, Equal Pay

Daniel Eaton, San Diego attorney
Legal Update: Michael Crowe, Employment Discrimination, Fair Pay
Guest: Daniel Eaton, San Diego attorney with Seltzer, Caplan, McMahon & Vitek

Michael Crowe: Michael Crowe, 28, who falsely confessed to killing his sister Stephanie in Escondido some 14 years ago after many hours of interrogation, is asking the court for a finding of factual innocence. Charges were dismissed against Crowe more than a decade ago. The hearing, originally scheduled for this week, was postponed to next week.

Neither the San Diego County District Attorney nor the state Attorney General is opposing Crowe's bid for a declaration of innocence. We ask our legal expert how often a court finds factual innocence and what it really means.

Listing Current Employment: We also look at pending legislation in Sacramento to make requesting current employment information on an application a discriminatory act; make it illegal to make present employment a prerequisite for hiring and to list it as a prerequisite in job ads.

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We look at the rationale behind the law, how it might work and ask what it means for employers and job seekers.

Equal Pay? Finally, after the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, are women and men finally being paid the same for the same work? Recent studies, released on April 17, Fair Pay Day, say no.

Women are paid just 84 cents for every dollar earned by men, and the statistics are even worse for Latina and black women. Is this legal? What does the law say? What recourse to women have if they believe they are not being paid fairly?

KPBS has created a public safety coverage policy to guide decisions on what stories we prioritize, as well as whose narratives we need to include to tell complete stories that best serve our audiences. This policy was shaped through months of training with the Poynter Institute and feedback from the community. You can read the full policy here.