A harsh and rigid reading of employment law rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year may soon get a much-deserved comeuppance.
Congress is moving swiftly toward passing a law that would set realistic filing deadlines for those who believe they have received discriminatory pay and are seeking redress.
The measure advancing in both the House and Senate would undo the damage wrought by the high court’s May decision, which so narrowly defined discriminatory acts as to make it near impossible for victims to pursue their claims.
We’re glad to see Congress take up the measure, but the real challenge will be to garner enough bipartisan support to override the veto that President Bush has threatened.
At issue is a case involving Lilly Ledbetter, a supervisor at an Alabama Goodyear Tire and Rubber plant for nearly two decades. At the end of her career, she learned that men doing the same job she did were making significantly more money – about $6,500 a year more.
She pursued a federal claim and proved to a jury that she was discriminated against. The Supreme Court pushed that victory aside, saying she should have filed a complaint within 180 days of each decision her bosses made to pay her less.
That’s a ridiculous standard that is at odds with reality. How could she be expected to know that a male co-worker was getting bigger pay raises? It’s not like being passed over for a promotion, where you know right away that you didn’t get a job, or you’re fired and you think it’s because of your gender or race.
The 5-4 decision, led by the court’s conservative majority, showed a striking lack of empathy for working-class people and the realities of how they can find themselves beholden to powerful employers.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had practiced women’s rights law, wrote the dissent in the case. Not only did she call the majority’s opinion a “parsimonious reading” of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, but she took the unusual step of reading her dissent from the bench. She called upon Congress to change the law.
“Once again, the ball is in Congress’ court,” she said.
Democrats responded by introducing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. It would require federal pay discrimination claims be filed within 180 days of the last paycheck that reflects a discriminatory pay decision. That is a much fairer deadline that gives people who feel they’ve been discriminated against a realistic chance to seek redress.
Critics say the measure would open up employers to a flurry of decades-old, frivolous claims. That seems unlikely given the steep financial requirements to pursue a lawsuit and the significant hurdles posed by discrimination law.
The idea that equal work merits equal pay is one that both conservatives and liberals can agree upon. It’s reasonable, we think, that workers who’ve been denied that basic equality should have a realistic shot at righting such a wrong.
