President Barack Obama hasn’t wasted any time fulfilling his campaign promise to pursue equal pay for equal work, regardless of gender, race, or sexual orientation. Working with Democrats on Capitol Hill, Obama has pledged to sign the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act once it passes through Congress. A floor vote is expected within the next two weeks. The Ledbetter Act is named for Lily Ledbetter, a woman who worked at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber plant for 19 years, from 1979 to 1998. She spent most of those years working as an area managers, a position occupied primarily by men. By 1997, she was the only female area manager left, and despite her nearly two decades of service, made more than $6,000 per year less than the lowest paid male employee. Many of the other male area managers who out-earned Ledbetter had less seniority and less experience. Under current law, an individual who is the subject of pay discrimination has 180 days from the initial discrimination to file a lawsuit, whether or not they know that discrimination has taken place. Considering many workplaces (including Goodyear Tire & Rubber) forbid employees to discuss personal salaries, that makes it incredibly difficult to file a pay discrimination action. So, if person A receives a paycheck for $500 and discovers 181 days later that her male coworkers have been receiving paychecks for $10000 all along, she’s barred from bringing an action against her employer. The Ledbetter Act would change the law so that every time an employer reissues a discriminatory paycheck, the 180 day window is renewed. Democrats attempted to pass the Ledbetter Act in 2007, but were blocked by Republicans in the Senate. President Obama spoke at length on pay equality, and heavily criticized John McCain for his opposition to the act.
