Both chambers of Congress have approved
legislation that will extend the deadline for filing a pay-bias
complaint under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The House voted 250 to 177 in favor of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay
Act (S 181) today. The Senate approved the legislation last week.
President Barack Obama is a strong supporter of the legislation, so he
is expected to sign it quickly.
The legislation addresses a Supreme Court decision that said the
deadline for workers to file a pay-bias complaint with the U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission under Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act is 180 days from the date the decision on their pay is made and
communicated to them. Some lawmakers found this deadline too
restrictive because many workers don’t discover they were discriminated
against in pay until long after the action was taken.
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act will amend Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act to clarify that the 180-day deadline restarts each time an
employee receives a paycheck that reflects past discrimination based on
race, color, religion, gender, or national origin.
Specifically, the legislation states that “an unlawful employment
practice occurs … when a discriminatory compensation decision or other
practice is adopted, when an individual becomes subject to a
discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, or when an
individual is affected by application of a discriminatory compensation
decision or other practice, including each time wages, benefits, or
other compensation is paid, resulting in whole or in part from such a
decision or other practice.”
The legislation will also amend the Age Discrimination in Employment Act to include the provision quoted above.
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Once signed, the legislation will take “effect as if enacted on May
28, 2007 and apply to all claims of discrimination in compensation
under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination
in Employment Act of 1967 (29 U.S.C. 621 et seq.), title I and section
503 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and sections 501
and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, that are pending on or after
that date.”
Lilly Ledbetter was a supervisor at Goodyear Tire and Rubber’s plant
in Gadsden, Alabama, from 1979 until her retirement in 1998. At first,
her pay was in line with the salaries of men, but over time, a gap
developed between her salary and the pay of male area managers with
equal or less seniority. By the end of 1997, Ledbetter was the only
woman working as an area manager and was paid $3,727 per month. By
comparison, the pay of the lowest paid male area manager was $4,286 per
month.
Ledbetter sued in 1998, alleging disparate treatment. The company
argued that the suit should be dismissed because Ledbetter failed to
file a complaint with the EEOC within 180 days of the previous pay
decisions that Ledbetter alleges were discriminatory.
However, Ledbetter argued that the clock on the 180-day deadline
restarted after each paycheck that reflected past discrimination. She
claimed that each time the company issued her a paycheck, the company
demonstrated an intent to discriminate and violated Title VII. The
majority of the Supreme Court rejected her arguments, saying Ledbetter
should have filed a complaint after each pay decision.
You can link to the text of the legislation here.