Ledbetter Vs. Goodyear Tire
Overview
In 1998 Lilly Ledbetter filed a pay discrimination claim against Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company that was based on events occurring in the early 1980s. Because of federal statues calling for such claims to be within a certain timeframe of the discrimination, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that she had missed the deadline.
History
Ledbetter was one of only a few female supervisors at the Gadsden, Ala., Goodyear plant when, after growing speculation over fair pay practices, she began to question if her salary was less than that of the male managers she worked with. After digging for answers, she was anonymously given a note that confirmed her suspicions, revealing the salaries of three male managers that made more than her. Ledbetter then filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission.
Facts
Initially, the complaint met with success. A jury in Alabama awarded Ledbetter $3.3 million worth of back pay and damages. However, the Eleventh District Circuit Court of Appeals reviewed the case and overturned the decision because it was filed too late and the company’s decision of pay structure had been made years earlier.
The District Court was ruling under the guise of Congressional Amendment Title VII, which states an employee cannot challenge ongoing compensation discrimination if an employers’ original discriminatory decision occurred more the 180 days before the complaint. Appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court proved fruitless as the justices ruled in favor of the Eleventh Circuit 5-4.
Solution
Seeing that a wrong still needed to be made right, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) introduced the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that would pass through The House on July 31, 2007. But when the bill came to the Senate floor in April 2008, many Senators felt it did not adequately remedy the Supreme Court decision and the bill did not move forward.
For nearly two years the issue went unresolved until organizations, citing a need to give woman the necessary tools to fight wage discrimination in the workplace, fought to get passage of the bill in the 111th Congress. Finally on Jan. 29, 2009, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was signed into law by President Obama.
Significance
Until the passage of the Fair Pay Act, workers didn’t have proper avenues to fight against wage discrimination. Work place discrimination as recognized within Title VII revolved mostly around employment, not unknown wage discrepancies.
Considerations
Under the Fair Pay Act each discriminatory paycheck can trigger a filing claim giving employees no time table, as opposed to the 180-day rule under Title VII, and giving employers incentive not to hide discriminatory information. Thus, no employee can be paid less than any other on the grounds of race, sex or national origin.