July 2007 — House Passes Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

By a 225-199 vote on July 31, 2007, the House passed H.R. 2831 , the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The bill, introduced by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) on June 22, would amend several federal employment statutes to specify that a discriminatory pay decision, which starts the time limit for filing a charge, occurs each time an employee receives a discriminatory paycheck.

This legislation is in direct response to a recent 5-4 Supreme Court decision, Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co ., 127 S.Ct. 2162, 100 FEP Cases 1025 (2007), which prohibits an employee from legally challenging a case of wage discrimination more than 180 days after the original discriminatory act occurred. H.R. 2831 would take effect retroactive to May 28, the day before the Supreme Court decision.

Lilly Ledbetter worked for Goodyear for more than 19 years. After learning that she was the lowest-paid supervisor out of a group of 16 supervisors, Ledbetter sued the company. A jury found that her employer had unlawfully discriminated against her on the basis of sex, but the Eleventh Circuit reversed the trial court's decision and ruled in favor of Goodyear, finding Ledbetter's claim untimely. The Supreme Court agreed with the Eleventh Circuit that Ledbetter failed to show that any discriminatory pay decision was made within the 180-day period before she filed her charge.

A companion Senate bill, S. 1843 , has seen no action.

First Published:
August 07, 2007