Labor & Employment Law

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Of 2009 and Paycheck Fairness Act approved by the House

As many have predicted, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Of 2009 and Paycheck Fairness Act soon will become the law of the land. [Full text]

The US House of Representative passed them both on January 9. The Senate will pass them soon. And the President (that is, President Obama) will sign them.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Of 2009 is designed to overrule a 2007 decision by the US Supreme Court, Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 550 U.S. 618 (2007).

The Ledbetter Act changes the rules for calculating the statute of limitations in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The guts of the Act:

For purposes of this section, an unlawful practice occurs, with respect to discrimination in compensation in violation of this Act, when a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice is adopted, when a person becomes subject to a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, or when a person 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 Paycheck Fairness Act will

Increase available remedies in Equal Pay Act cases by adding compensatory damages and punitive damages

Allow class action lawsuits

Require the EEOC and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to "provide training to [EEOC] employees and affected individuals and entities on matters involving discrimination in the payment of wages."

My view: All of this demonstrates that elections matter.

Full post as published by Ross' Employment Law Blog on January 12, 2009 (boomark / email).