Lilly Ledbetter’s name was thrust into the public spotlight when the United States Supreme Court decided to hear her case. To the amazement of many, she lost. The Supreme Court held that an employer can effectively “run out the clock” on an Equal Pay Act violation. Ms. Ledbetter was making less money than her male co-workers. She didn’t know it. By the time she found out, the Supreme Court said it was too late to sue.
This led Congress to pass legislation to change the law. The act, appropriately named the Lilly Ledbetter Act, was the first bill signed into law by President Obama.
More potential reforms are on the horizon. The Paycheck Fairness Act would be an amendment to the Equal Pay Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. The law would give more teeth to the Equal Pay Act. More about that in a later blog. The law would also permit employees to share wage information. This would allow them to be informed about the pay their co-workers receive. In turn, this would make it easier to for a victim of discrimination to learn that they she was not being paid legally.
In a recent Washington Post op-ed, Ms. Ledbetter shared her thoughts on the Paycheck Fairness Act. It’s worth a read. Here’s the link.