By Kristina Petronko
Lilly Ledbetter testifies before the House Education and Labor Committee
In what may be a speed record for Congressional response, Congress has started the process of reversing the Supreme Court’s May 29 decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. As we’ve written about before, the Court’s decision eviscerated a bedrock principle of Title VII civil rights enforcement.
But there’s hope that this unjust result will be quickly overturned. Legislation is making its way through the House, and last week there was progress on two fronts.
First, the House Education and Labor Committee, by a party-line vote of 25-20, approved the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The bill would return the law to what it was before the Supreme Court’s decision: each discriminatory paycheck would restart the clock on when an employee could file a lawsuit. Considering the crushing effect of pay discrimination on women -- women make 77 cents to every dollar that men make -- we had hoped the bill would get bipartisan support, but so far we’ve been disappointed. Still, the bill is now headed to the House floor, where we hope for quick passage.
Then the next day, our own Marcia Greenberger testified before the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties of the House Judiciary Committee on another issue raised by Lilly Ledbetter’s case: the unfair caps that arbitrarily limit the damages plaintiffs can receive in Title VII cases. The caps, set by Congress in 1991 and unchanged since, mean that in many cases victims don’t get what they deserve and employers aren’t really punished for – or effectively deterred from -- discriminating.
For example, before the Supreme Court ruled that she was entitled to no relief whatsoever, a jury awarded Lilly Ledbetter $3.28 million in compensatory and punitive damages. But because of the caps, the judge was forced to reduce the award to a mere tenth of that recovery -- $300,000. Would $300,000 have compensated Ms. Ledbetter for almost twenty years of pay discrimination and harassment? Would the threat of paying $300,000 have kept Goodyear from discriminating against its other female employees when it brings in $20 billion a year? NO!
That’s why Congress needs to act. To really help workers like Lilly Ledbetter and deter employers from discriminating at the same time, Congress should pass legislation to eliminate the caps.
Where do things go from here? We hope that the House builds on this momentum and brings legislation to fix both of these problems to a vote after the Fourth of July recess. In the meantime, it’s the Senate’s turn to step up and introduce similar legislation. Good start Congress. Let’s keep the ball rolling.
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