Legal News

Will Obama Legislate Away the Lilly Ledbetter Decision?

By Dan Slater

How quickly will Obama and the Dems in Congress legislate against the so-called Lilly Ledbetter effect?

Lilly Ledbetter addresses the Democratic National Convention, Aug. 26, 2008. (AP/Ron Edmonds)

Readers will remember Ledbetter, most recently, from the presidential race. She spoke at the Democratic National Convention, campaigned for Obama and made a television commercial for him.

In her role as plaintiff, Ledbetter lost her employment discrimination case before the Supreme Court in 2007. Ledbetter accused Goodyear of sex-based pay discrimination. At issue was the time limit for filing. The Court held that she should’ve filed her claim within 180 days of “the alleged unlawful employment practice” — the initial decision to pay her less than men performing similar work. The Court rejected the argument that each paycheck was a violation of the law.

Since then, notes the New York Times, courts around the country have gone far beyond the facts of that case and cited it as a reason for rejecting lawsuits claiming discrimination based on race, sex, age and disability.

As a senator, Obama was a co-sponsor of a bill to overturn the Ledbetter decision. As we noted in October, in the final presidential debate Obama said: “Senator McCain and I disagreed recently when the Supreme Court made it more difficult for a woman named Lilly Ledbetter to press her claim for pay discrimination. . . when she brought a suit, saying equal pay for equal work, the judges said, well, you know, it’s taken you too long to bring this lawsuit, even though she didn’t know about it until fairly recently.” (In the same debate, John McCain called the proposed legislation ‘a trial lawyer’s dream.’)

Today, the Times reports that Obama and Democrats in Congress are planning swift action to overturn the decision. The legislation would essentially relax the statute of limitations under various civil rights laws, giving people more time to file charges. Obama, notes the Times, describes the bill as part of a broader effort by his incoming administration to “update the social contract,” reinvigorate civil rights and close the pay gap between men and women.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on January 05, 2009 (boomark / email).