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Pay Discrimination Bill Fails in Congress

You may recall that in 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., in which it held that victims of pay discrimination have only 180 days from the date of an initial discriminatory pay practice to file a claim of discrimination, even if such a practice continues well after the initial act of discrimination. In Ms. Ledbetter’s case, although she was paid at a lower rate than her male employees for 20 years, she did not learn about the pay discrimination until long after it first occurred. Since her discovery of the pay disparity came about more than 180 days after the initial discriminatory pay decision, the Court held that her claims were barred by the 180-day statute of limitations contained in Title VII. The Court was silent on the Equal Pay Act, which provides women a separate avenue for claims of disparate pay going back as far as three years prior to the filing of suit.

In response to what many believe was a manifestly unfair decision, a number of bills have been introduced in Congress to legislatively overrule the Supreme Court’s decision. The bill that many thought had the best chance of being passed, the Fair Pay Restoration Act, would provide that victims of pay discrimination have 180 days after the last or most recent discriminatory paycheck in order to file suit.

Unfortunately for employees, the bill stalled in the Senate, as its opponents prevented it from coming up for a floor vote. So until new legislation is passed-and by most accounts there is little likelihood of that happening any time soon-employees must be very vigilant about their employers’ pay practices, and they should seek advice from an experienced employment attorney if they even suspect they are the victim of pay discrimination.

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