Litigation

President Obama signs workplace-related legislation into law

By Kathy Feldman

On January 29, 2009, President Obama signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, expanding the time frame in which workers can sue for discrimination they have experienced based on gender, race, national origin or religion.  The legislation is named for the woman who filed a Title VII wage discrimination lawsuit in 1998 against her employer, Goodyear Tire & Rubber.  Ms. Ledbetter, a manager at Goodyear, discovered she was being paid less than her male coworkers.  She filed suit and won a jury verdict in 2003.  But the lawsuit was found invalid by the U.S. Supreme Court because it was not filed within six months of when the discrimination began -- even though Ms. Ledbetter was unaware of the discrimination until years later.  The Act relaxes the statute of limitations, making it clear that each new paycheck is a violation of the law if it results "in whole or in part" from a discriminatory pay decision made in the past.

See our earlier report on the Ledbetter case here.

Full post as published by Northwest Business Litigation Blog on January 29, 2009 (boomark / email).