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?
How are you feeling about the way the election turned out? The word on everyone’s tongue was change. Now that Barack Obama is making his personnel picks for his White House and cabinet public, Americans are wondering if the same old boys are going to offer change. Watch the following video and tell me what you think. Better yet, leave a comment at the youtube site.
Are things are so out of control that we might as well let the chips fall where they may? The video, Changes are Coming, is a satire that points out many of the mistakes our nation has made. Did you notice the reference to Clinton’s moral issues? Does debauchery describe the money grabbing attitude of our nation?
The word change means to transform or convert. Change the form, nature, content, future course, etc., of (something) different from what it is or from what it would be if left alone: to change one’s name; to change one’s opinion; to change the course of history. .
If we take what we have learned and don’t repeat the mistakes we will be better. However, the word change also means to substitute another. Are we ready for one mistake to replace another? Change is scary. Hold on! It is going to be an interesting ride as we experience Change.
No matter how you vote, you must agree that we live in a wonderful country. I enjoyed reading a post at A Second Cup. Carol says, eloquently, how I feel about our great country. We know that when we complain about our country, we will not be thrown into jail. We are free to be mad at our neighbors when they have different political beliefs. We are free to be curious about another person’s religious beliefs. Go read Carol’s post about division in “No Tanks Will Roll Today”.
