Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009

Question 1

What does Lilly Ledbetter case do?

Answer 1

OVERALL EFFECT: This added language effectively eliminates those burdens the Supreme Court’s decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber imposed, by in essence resetting the 180 day (or 300 day) statute of limitations period each time wages, benefits or any other compensation is paid out, based upon the original discriminatory decision.

Purpose: In the 2007 case, Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the Supreme Court up-ended longstanding precedent and held that employees could not sue for pay discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 if their employer’s original discriminatory pay decision occurred more than 180 days before they initiated a claim. (Title VII is a separate federal statute that prohibits wage discrimination on the basis of race, religion, national origin, and sex.)

Congress acted swiftly to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to overturn the Court’s decision. The Act made it clear that each discriminatory paycheck – not just an employer’s original decision to engage in pay discrimination – resets the period of time (i.e., statute of limitations) during which a worker may file a claim of pay discrimination on the basis of sex, race, national origin, age, religion and disability.

IDENTIFY who APPLICABLE to

Employee: Claiming to being paid differently for discriminatory reasons

Employer: 15 or more employees – Title VII, Americans with Disabilities Act

20 or more employees – Age Discrimination Act

ELEMENTS/PRIMA FACIE CASE

Under the Act, an individual subjected to compensation discrimination under:

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
• The Rehabilitation Act

may file a charge within 180 (or 300) days of any of the following:

1. When a discriminatory compensation decision or other discriminatory practice affecting compensation is adopted;
2. When the individual becomes subject to a discriminatory compensation decision or other discriminatory practice affecting compensation; or
3. When the individual’s compensation is affected by the application of a discriminatory compensation decision or other discriminatory practice, including each time the individual receives compensation that is based in whole or part on such compensation decision or other practice.

DAMAGES

Title VII, ADEA, Americans with Disabilities Act, Rehabilitation Act

-Back Wages limited up to 2 years (Not all the way back to the possible discriminatory pay compensation decision.)

NUANCES/CASELAW

PENSION BENEFITS - These time frames apply to all forms of compensation, including the payment of pension benefits. However, because the congressional findings state that “[n]othing in [the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act] is intended to change current law treatment of when pension distributions are considered paid,” it may be determined that pension benefits are considered paid “upon entering retirement and not upon issuance of each annuity check. ” Therefore, to avoid potential timeliness issues, an individual who is considering challenging his or her pension benefits is strongly encouraged to file a charge within 180/300 days after retirement.