Constitutional Law

Congress Gives Final Approval To Pay Equity Bill

Following quickly on the Senate’s approval, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed the bill intended to help employees challenge discrimination in pay. The House, on a 250 – 177 vote, approved the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which The New York Times reported “is likely to be the first significant legislation signed by President Obama.”

Calls for passage of a fair pay law were heightened after the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed Lilly Ledbetter’s pay discrimination case against Goodyear, where she had been a supervisor. Ledbetter sued the tire company after learning that she had been paid significantly less than her male counterparts for many years. A jury agreed that Ledbetter’s civil rights had been violated and awarded her $360,000 in back pay. But, the high court, in its Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., decision concluded that Ledbetter had waited too long to bring the lawsuit. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), a supporter of the Ledbetter Act said, “The Supreme Court decided to commit legal jujitsu to satisfy a narrow ideological agenda,” the Times reported. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, a sponsor of the Senate bill, told the newspaper that employers could avoid being sued as long as they “don’t discriminate.”

Full post as published by ACS Blog on January 28, 2009 (boomark / email).