Late Breaking News -- Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and Paycheck Fairness Act Move Forward
TWO, FOUR, SIX, EIGHT, WOMEN SAY THE HOUSE IS REALLY GREAT!
The House of Representatives, that is… Two hours ago, the House of Representatives passed two bills that will help prevent gender based pay discrimination. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act reverses the decision of the Supreme Court, which I wrote about in my first ever entry on this blog. The decision had interpreted the statute of limitations for Title VII so narrowly that it made it impossible in practical terms for those who suffered pay discrimination to seek recourse.
The Paycheck Fairness Act stiffens penalties for gender based pay discrimination. It also addresses a related problem, protecting workers who share pay information with their colleagues from retribution by the employer. This protection is necessary because employers who forbid employees from sharing pay information are effectively preventing the employees from learning about pay discrimination.
These were just the second and third pieces of legislation voted on by the House since it resumed sessions on Tuesday. Last year, the Senate struck down the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. It should pass handily in the newly elected Senate.
This looks like a signal for sea change in direction after the conservative Bush years. The conservative majority of the Supreme Court may continue to try to narrowly interpret civil rights legislation, but Congress has sent a strong message – through the ADA Amendments Act (which I previously wrote about) and these new laws – that it will take swift action to undo the damage done by the Court. It will be interesting to see if Congressional action to overturn Supreme Court decisions tempers the "conservative activism" of this Supreme Court the next time it is called on to interpret civil rights legislation.
Here's a link about the vote: http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/09/news/economy/pay_equity/