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Saturday, June 16, 2007

Law - Suggested response to Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

The ILB missed reading this June 4th opinion piece by Susan E. Reed (which may no longer be freely available) in the NY Times, but heard about it this morning when listening to this commentary on NPR's Marketplace Money. The NPR piece sums up the article pretty well.

In this ILB entry from May 31st from I quoted Steven Greenhouse of the NYT:

In yesterday’s 5-to-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that workers generally lose their right to sue for pay discrimination unless they file charges within 180 days of a specific event, like a boss giving a worker a smaller raise because of her sex. Establishing a pattern of discrimination over several years will no longer be possible.
Reacting to Ledbetter, the Reed opinion piece suggests that Congress pass legislation mandating that companies post salaries. She continues:
It makes sense, especially in light of the court's decision last week requiring employees to file pay discrimination complaints under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act within 180 days of the last pay adjustment.

It's only fair since the five justices who supported this decision must have thought that it was easy for employees to find out whether they are being discriminated against. They must never have had to sidle up to co-workers and whisper nosy questions about pay to find out how they ranked. They must never have been so desperate for proof that they considered hacking into the company database or ransacking the human resources office searching for pay rosters.

It's understandable that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is responsible for investigating pay discrimination complaints, requires evidence. But some employees have not discovered evidence that they are paid less until after the 180 days has expired.

Reed notes that "If we are really going to enforce the 180-day rule, then Congress needs to make it easier for workers to procure the necessary evidence."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 16, 2007 06:58 PM
Posted to General Law Related