Jan 29 2009
Obama Signs His First Bill
President Obama signed his first piece of legislation into law today. It was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which will increase workers ability to sue for past pay discrimination. Woo hoo!
I have to say, finally. The fact that women have been discriminated against when it came to equal pay for an equal job is not new. Laws have been brought before the legislative bodies before but were always twisted in ways that never helped women. This new law effectively nullifies a 2007 Supreme Court decision that said workers had only 180 days to file a pay-discrimination lawsuit.
Lily Ledbetter sued Goodyear after she discovered she was not receiving the same amount in her paycheck as the men who did the same job she did. The Supreme Court said she was not due compensation because she missed the deadline. The law that was signed today makes it easier for workers to sue for decades-old discrimination. Under the new bill, given final passage in Congress this week, every new discriminatory paycheck would extend the statute of limitations for another 180 days. The bill does not change current law limiting back pay for claimants to two years.
In all fairness, Congress attempted to update the law to extend the time, but the Bush White House and Senate Republicans blocked the legislation in the last session of Congress.
Do you think this will bring more lawsuits into our courtrooms? Will this make a difference in our workplaces? Will employers be able to get around paying women the same?
