High Court hears pay-discrimination case: woman makes $6,000 a year less than men in same job

[Omaha Steve]

MORE bad news for Goodyear.

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/politics/16110103.htm

High Court hears pay-discrimination case
MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Employees must complain about pay discrimination within six months or forfeit their claim, the Supreme Court was told Monday in a case closely watched by companies and civil rights groups.

Justices engaged in a lively, but inconclusive debate over how to apply a 180-day deadline for complaining about discriminatory pay decisions under Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Lilly Ledbetter sued Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., claiming that after 19 years at the company's Gadsden, Ala., plant, she was making $6,000 a year less than the lowest-paid man in the same job.

Ledbetter claimed the disparity existed for years and was primarily a result of her gender. A jury agreed, but an appeals court overturned the verdict.

Lawyers for Goodyear and the Bush administration argued against her claim.

Glen Nager, Goodyear's attorney, said the appeals court was correct. "Bring that claim or lose it," he said.

Justice Department lawyer Irving Gorenstein said that if the court were to side with Ledbetter, "it would undo the statute of limitations in pay cases."

But Ledbetter's lawyer, Kevin Russell, told the justices that each smaller paycheck should be treated as a new act of discrimination.

Eight justices joined in the questioning. Justice Clarence Thomas was, customary for him, silent, but he could play a pivotal role in deciding the case. Thomas once was chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is responsible for investigating workplace discrimination claims.

Applying the 180-day deadline to decisions made years ago makes no sense in a situation in which the disparity grew over time, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said.

Early on, "there is no reason to think there is going to be this inequality," she argued.

But Chief Justice John Roberts was skeptical that employees could "challenge the discrimination 15 years later."

Ledbetter was initially awarded more than $3.8 million. A judge reduced the award to $360,000.

FULL story at link above.

[LisaM]

1. How are people supposed to know what coworkers earn?

Around here, it's all a big secret. I have no idea what my peers make.

[smtpgirl]

2. Then you are probably paid less than a man

doing the same job.

I know I make less money than some of my male counterparts, doing the same job.