Help Support Fair Pay for People with Disabilities - Advocacy Initiative Network of Maine

You are here:

Help Support Fair Pay for People with Disabilities

Tuesday, 22 January 2008

The Supreme Court's recent decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Co. makes it virtually impossible for many employees who experience pay
discrimination to sue their employers. The Senate has before it a bill, the
Fair Pay Restoration Act, that would correct this problem for victims of pay
discrimination based on disability, age, gender and race.

Senators need to hear now from advocates and people with disabilities about
the need to enact this legislation. Markup of the bill, S. 1843, may be as
soon as next week. Letters from constituents are critical.

What the Supreme Court Did

In the Ledbetter case, the Supreme Court held that a woman who had been paid
less than male colleagues for the same work could not challenge this pay
discrimination because she had filed her claims too late. The justices said
that Lilly Ledbetter should have filed her claims within 180 days of when
her employer first decided to give her lower pay, but that occurred years
before she found out that her pay was less than her male counterparts'.
Although Ms. Ledbetter continued to receive lower paychecks than her male
colleagues for years, she could not challenge that discrimination because
the Supreme Court held in a 5-4 decision that her claims were barred by the
statute of limitations. You can read Lilly Ledbetter's testimony at a
congressional hearing in a PDF file linked from our online alert.

What You Can Do

Write to your Senators today to urge them to support S.1843, the Fair Pay
Restoration Act, which would restore effective remedies to victims of pay
discrimination.

Use or adapt the sample letter you'll find online or you can send your own letter
asking your Senators to support S.1843.

Last Updated ( Friday, 25 January 2008 )