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Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Of 2009

Floor Speech

Date: Jan. 9, 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Employment and Affirmative Action

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Ms. DeLAURO. I rise in support of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and I commend Chairman Miller for his leadership and for his tireless efforts that have brought us so far.

We are here today because Lilly Ledbetter got short-changed, short-changed by her employer--the perpetrator of consistent pay discrimination lasting years--and short-changed again by the Supreme Court.

A jury found that, yes, Lilly Ledbetter had been discriminated against by her employer, and they awarded her $3.8 million in back pay and damages. Then under Title VII, this award was reduced to $360,000, ultimately to zero, when the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against her last year, drastically limiting women's access to seek justice for pay discrimination based on gender, requiring workers to file a pay discrimination claim within a 6-month period only, regardless of how long the pay inequity goes on. When women still earn only about 78 percent of what men earn, this ruling essentially rolled back efforts to ensure equal pay and left women with little remedy.

Justice Ginsberg suggested in her dissent, ``Congress has an obligation to correct the Court's decision.'' That is why we introduced and passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act last year, clearly stating the title VII statute of limitation runs from the date a discriminatory wage is actually paid, not simply some earliest possible date which has come and gone long ago. Instead, you would be able to challenge discriminatory paychecks as long as you continue to receive them.

Earlier this week, Lilly Ledbetter wrote to the entire Congress, ``I may have lost my personal battle, but I have not given up. I am still fighting for all of the other women and girls out there who deserve equal pay and equal treatment under the law.''

Madam Speaker, ensuring pay equity can help families gain the resources they need to give their children a better future, the great promise of the American Dream. Let us make good on that promise, pass this bill, and make sure women who face the discrimination that Lilly Ledbetter faced have the right to fight against it.

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