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One woman's workplace dilemma has brought about legislation on Capitol Hill. Lilly Ledbetter discovered she was making less money for doing the same job as her coworker, who was a man. Ledbetter went to court, and a jury ruled in her favor. But the case was reversed on appeal, and the Supreme Court went along with that later ruling. Now the Senate is about to vote on a bill that would make it easier for workers to sue their employers for pay discrimination. Republicans are likely to block it. NPR's Brian Naylor has this story.
BRIAN NAYLOR: For 19, Lilly Ledbetter worked as a manager at the Goodyear Tire plant in Gadsden, Alabama. She was, she says, promoted, given new responsibilities and pay raises along the way. Then one day came an anonymous and troubling tip.
Ms. LILLY LEDBETTER (Former Goodyear Tire Employee): Someone had left a note in my box a work showing what my pay was versus the three males doing the exact same job. And I just - I was shocked. I just couldn't believe how much difference there really was.
NAYLOR: Ledbetter says at the end of her career at Goodyear, she was earning about $6,000 a year less than her lowest paid male colleague. She sued the company, and a jury found in her favor, awarding her over $3 million in damages. But an appeals court ruled Ledbetter hadn't sued soon enough. She should have taken action within six months of when the discrimination first occurred, and the Supreme Court agreed. Ledbetter says she had no idea about the pay disparity until the note because managers at Goodyear were forbidden from discussing their pay. So Congressional Democrats came up with the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. It would give workers who feel they've been discriminated against six months after each paycheck to file suit. Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts says the measure rights the wrong committed against Ledbetter and others like her.
Senator TED KENNEDY (Democrat, Massachusetts): Imagine the Supreme Court of the United States saying that, after all of the legislation and all of the Congressional intent in the last 30 years, and they're saying tough on you. So the employer holds it in a safe, and Lilly Ledbetter can't find it. Tough on her. Doesn't have a remedy. Too bad. Go ahead and continue to discriminate. In the United States of America?
NAYLOR: The measure passed the House in July, but it ran into opposition in the Senate from Republicans, who say it would encourage lawsuits. Here's Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Senator MITCH McCONNELL (Republican, Kentucky; Senate Minority Leader): We think that this bill is primarily designed to create a massive amount of new litigation in our country, and I think that is the reason for the resistance to its passage on our side.
NAYLOR: But backers of the legislation say McConnell has it wrong. They point to a study by the Congressional Budget Office that found that any increase in lawsuits against employers would be minimal. Still, the Bush administration said the president would veto the bill if it reached his desk. The issue is not likely to go away. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were expected back at the Senate today to vote for the bill, signaling whoever wins the Democratic presidential nomination is likely to try to use pay equity as an issue against Republicans in the fall. Brian Naylor, NPR News, the capital. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
