Support Fair Pay

Tell your senators to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (H.R. 2831) today.

The bill will reverse the effects of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., which severely limits workers’ ability to vindicate their rights and distorts Congress’ intent to eliminate sex and other forms of discrimination in the workplace.

Please take action now.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Pass H.R. 2831, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I am writing to urge you to support the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (H.R. 2831), which will reverse the effects of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., which severely limits workers' ability to vindicate their rights and distorts Congress' intent to eliminate sex and other forms of discrimination in the workplace. A parallel bill already has been passed in the U.S. House.

In Ledbetter, the Supreme Court held that employees cannot challenge ongoing compensation discrimination if the employer's original discriminatory decision occurred more than 180 days before, even when the employee continues to receive paychecks that have been discriminatorily reduced. Prior to this decision, the law as interpreted by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and nine of the 10 courts of appeals that have considered the issue treated each discriminatory paycheck as a separate discriminatory act that started a new 180-day clock.

The Ledbetter decision is problematic because it undermines the congressional goal of eliminating discrimination in the workplace, enables employers to benefit from discrimination and ignores fundamental workplace realities. Because pay information is often confidential, it may take a long time for an employee to realize that he or she is experiencing compensation discrimination. In addition, the law under Ledbetter provides an incentive for employers to conceal, rather than correct, compensation discrimination.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act would restore long-standing law and promote voluntary compliance with anti-discrimination laws by employers.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
April 21, 2008


Background Information

If enacted, the act would reverse a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision dismissing a suit by Lilly Ledbetter, an employee for 19 years at a tire plant in Gadsden, Ala., who says she was paid less than her male counterparts.

The U.S. Supreme Court said she did not file her lawsuit against Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. within 180 days after the discrimination occurred, as required by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court let the company off the hook by calculating the deadline from the day Goodyear made its original decision to pay her less than her male colleagues. The law had made it clear previously that the clock did not start until she received her last discriminatory paycheck. The bill would remove the 180-day limit.

H.R. 2831 is an important legislative “fix” to this decision, which severely limited the ability of victims of pay discrimination to sue and recover damages under the Civil Rights Act.