President
Bush should follow the recent signing of the anti-genetic
discrimination bill with support for passage of the Lilly Ledbetter
Fair Pay Act, which would restore the ability of women who are
unfairly and wrongly underpaid because of gender discrimination to
recover the fair pay they have earned. That ability was taken away
last year by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision that disregarded the
overwhelming consensus of the intermediate federal appeals courts and
a common sense appreciation for the regular workplace.
Lilly
Ledbetter worked as an area supervisor for Goodyear in Alabama, the
only woman out of a total of 15 area supervisors. After nearly 20
years of faithful service and hard work, she learned that she was
being paid from $500 to $1500 less per month than all her male
counterparts including a number with lesser seniority. She filed
suit, a jury ruled that gender discrimination was the basis for her
being underpaid and she was awarded some $250,000 of wages she had
rightfully and fairly earned.
The
Supreme Court took it away, ruling 5-4 that Ledbetter could recover
only that lesser pay that occurred within the last six months of her
employment. Goodyear, of course, like many employers – studies
have shown that one-third of private sector employers prohibit
employees from discussing their pay – kept a tight lid on
salary and pay information. As a result, Ledbetter, despite her
undeniable qualifications and hard work, was grossly underpaid in
comparison with her male counterparts for many, many years. Only
when she found out what had been done to her did she file suit. But
the Supreme Court ruled no matter, she waited too late.
The
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act simply seeks to restore what every woman
working in America had before the Supreme Court’s decision: that is, a realistic opportunity to recover in court
the earnings and benefits that they deserve based on their
performance and qualifications but have been denied because of their
gender. The House of Representatives passed the bill overwhelmingly,
but it died in the Senate in the face of a Republican-led filibuster
with both of Kentucky’s Senators, McConnell and Bunning,
standing tall against equal pay for equal work.
It
would seem a very American notion: that women (and everyone else for
that matter) should be paid fairly and equally for the work their
skills, abilities and labor enables them to do. President Bush’s
support for the anti-genetic discrimination bill is a sensible and
reasoned response to a real world, real life problem. The Lilly
Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is the same, and the President, along with
Kentucky’s Senators, should line up in support of equal pay for
equal work.
Robert L. Abell
www.RobertAbellLaw.com