Lilly Ledbetter worked for Goodyear for nearly two decades (1979-1998) when she discovered she had been consistently paid less than her male equals. She sued and the case went all the way to the Federal Supreme Court. This would be the Supreme Court now loaded up with Bush's "business friendly" appointees. In a mind-goggling ruling, they did not deny that Lilly had been discriminated against, but ruled she needed to file her complaint within 180 days of the first occasion of discrimination. Justice Alito, speaking for the majority of the court (5 justices) stated, "she could have, and should have, sued" when the pay decisions were made, instead of waiting beyond the 180-day statutory charging period. That would be nearly 20 years earlier when she had no knowledge, and no way of knowing, she was being discriminated against. This ended her lawsuit and left her bereft of even the money she should have earned, let alone any damages or interest she should have been paid. If ever there was a ruling that reeked of favoritism and unfairness this was it. In effect, it said if a corporation can keep you from knowing you're being discriminated against for 6 months, they get a free pass. This was, in my opinion, the dumbest ruling in legal history... or at least since the Roman Emperor Caligula made his horse a Senator.
In response, the Democratic Congress in April 2008 attempted to pass legislation -- The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act -- to remedy the legal situation and make sure this never happened to another person, male or female. The Republicans opposed it, and while the house passed it, the Senate could never muster enough support to overcome a threatened Republican filibuster. It never came to a vote. Even if it had passed, Bush had already threatened to veto it. If you're not outraged yet, you're not paying attention.
What is the cure? The House of Representatives this past week once again took up the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and passed it with an overwhelming majority. However the Senate still does not have a filibuster proof majority. It is going to be up to us citizen-leaders to apply the heat to our Senators, especially if they are Republicans. I urge you, if you believe in fairness at all and that everyone deserves equal pay for equal work, to call your Senator, regardless of party affiliation and even if you have never done so before. Tell your Senator to support the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
Visit this site: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ and click on your state in the interactive U.S. map. It will pull up a list of your Senators. Click on the Senator's name or webpage and find links to send the Senator an electronic message or make a phone call.
