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For Immediate Release: Thursday, January 22, 2009
Contact: Ranit Schmelzer or Mary Robbins, 202-588-5180
STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF THE
LILLY LEDBETTER FAIR PAY ACT
(Washington, DC) The following is a statement by Marcia D. Greenberger, Co-President of the National Women’s Law Center, given today during a press conference with women Senators in support of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The Ledbetter bill is expected to be debated and voted on in the Senate as early as today.
“More than four decades after Congress outlawed wage discrimination based on sex, women continue to be paid only 78 cents for every dollar paid to men. The Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. in 2007 has left women without the most basic legal means to fight for the pay they and their families so desperately need and deserve, especially during these economically perilous times.
“The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act would restore the law that existed for decades in virtually every region of the country prior to the Ledbetter decision and give women back critical tools they need to fight wage discrimination in court. The Ledbetter bill makes it clear that each discriminatory paycheck is a new act of discrimination that resets the 180-day limit to file a claim. In doing so, it reestablishes the law’s incentive for employers to correct discriminatory pay practices, because they no longer would have the free pass to continue to discriminate against their employees without ever having to even worry about being held accountable. At the same time, plaintiffs still can only recover back pay for a period of no more than two years before they challenge the discrimination.
“Amendments, such as the one proposed by Senator Hutchison, and defeated today by the Senate, would have weakened pay discrimination law, rather than restoring it to where it has been for decades. This was the right vote for the Senate to take. We hope other amendments that would undermine the restorative nature of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and weaken worker protections will also be defeated.
“The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is the only bill that will give women back the ability to challenge wage discrimination in court and receive equal pay for equal work. And that’s vital for our economic recovery.
“The House passed the Ledbetter bill. Now it’s up to the Senate to pass a clean bill that gives people who need and deserve equal pay the most basic right they used to have to get that pay.
“Make no mistake, this vote matters to women, their families, and to all victims of pay discrimination. This is the time to stand up for what is right, for what is just, for what is urgently needed as people struggle to stretch their paychecks now more than ever.”
For more information about the campaign for pay equity, visit www.nwlc.org/fairpay. To speak with Marcia D. Greenberger, or Lilly Ledbetter, contact Ranit Schmelzer at 202-588-5180.
A fact sheet on Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. is available here: http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/Broad_Ledbetter_Fact_Sheet_111008.pdf
A fact sheet on the wage gap is available here: http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/Pay_Equity_Fact_Sheet_Nov2008.pdf
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