Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007

Floor Speech

LILLY LEDBETTER FAIR PAY ACT OF 2007 -- (Extensions of Remarks - September 04, 2007)

* Ms. McCOLLUM of Minnesota. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to restore important protections for victims of pay discrimination.

* On May 29, 2007, in a 5-4 ruling the Supreme Court issued a decision in the case of Ledbetter v. Goodyear making it much more difficult for workers discriminated against on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, national origin, or age to sue their employers because of disparate pay.

* In this decision, the Court ruled that Lilly Ledbetter, a former supervisor at a tire plant in Alabama, was not eligible to receive back pay for pay discrimination because she had not filed her claim within 180 days after the first ``unlawful employment practice occurred.''

* However, as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg highlighted in her dissent, pay discrimination occurs over time in small increments and is frequently not discovered for many years. It is more than disappointing that this decision increases the barriers to fair compensation for victims of pay discrimination.

* The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, of which I am a cosponsor, will allow pay discrimination claims to be filed within 180 days of the issuance of any discriminatory paycheck, not necessarily the first paycheck as the Supreme Court ruled. This legislation restores the previously established interpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

* H.R. 2831 makes it clear to employers and employees alike that pay discrimination is unacceptable. It is unacceptable from the moment the first discriminatory paycheck is issued until the day that worker receives the compensation s/he earned.

* Madam Speaker, pay discrimination is unjust and it is illegal. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting fairness for working families and voting for H.R. 2831.

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