From Kim Ahern at RIFuture:

I just returned from my visit to the US Supreme Court and meeting with Justice Alito. While it was a great way to cap off RWU Law’s “Supreme Semester,” I can’t help but think of one of the worst decisions that came down last term: Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.

In this case, the Supreme Court held that employees cannot challenge ongoing compensation discrimination if the employer’s original discriminatory decision occurred more than 180 days before, even when the employee continues to receive paychecks that have been discriminatorily reduced. Basically this decision goes against Congressional intent of eliminating workplace discrimination and essentially, ignores what may be really going on in the workplace. Justice Ginsburg (who founded the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project) had to watch as a woman’s statutory right to equal pay was diminished. This was a rare time when Ginsburg read her dissent aloud from the bench:

In our view, the court does not comprehend, or is indifferent to, the insidious way in which women can be victims of pay discrimination…

The bit of good news about this case is that YOU can do something about it! If you believe in women’s equality in the workplace, please e-mail Senator Whitehouse and Senator Reed and tell them to support the Fair Pay Restoration Act (S. 1843), which will correct the Court’s reading of Title VII. The House passed the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007 (HR 2831) earlier this year.

Click here to watch Lilly Ledbetter herself discuss her experience, courtesy of the Alliance for Justice.

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Tags: Equal rights

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