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Do IT this week: Layering
By Philip Elliott
Associated Press
POSTED: 11:26 a.m. EST, Jan 29, 2009
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama signed an equal-pay bill into law today before cheering labor and women leaders who fought hard for it and the woman whose history-making lawsuit gave impetus to the cause.
Obama, choosing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act as the first bill to sign as president, called it a ''wonderful day'' and declared that ending pay disparities between men and woman an issue not just for women, but for all workers.
With Ledbetter standing by his side, Obama said she lost more than $200,000 in salary, and even more in pension and Social Security benefits losses that she ''still feels today.'' He then signed the measure that effectively nullifies a 2007 Supreme Court decision and makes it easier for workers to sue for discrimination by allowing them more time to do so.
''Making our economy work means making sure it works for everyone,'' Obama said. ''That there are no second class citizens in our workplaces, and that it's not just unfair and illegal — but bad for business — to pay someone less because of their gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion or disability.''
Ledbetter said she didn't become aware of the large discrepancy in her pay until she neared the end of her 19-year career at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant in Gadsden, Ala, and she filed a lawsuit. But the high court held in a 5-4 decision that she missed her chance to bring the action.
Obama appeared before a jammed East Room audience, and his entrance and many lines of his brief remarks were met with happy applause and yells.
He paid special tribute to Ledbetter, who fought for the bill even though it won't allow her to recover any money for herself.
And in the room were the living symbols of this fight: Nancy Pelosi, first woman speaker of the House, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who took her pursuit of the presidency further than any other woman, even though she ultimately lost to Obama in the Democratic primary season.
Of Ledbetter, Obama exclaimed: ''This grandmother from Alabama kept on fighting, because she was thinking about the next generation.''
First lady Michelle Obama hosted a reception after the ceremony in the State Dining Room.
Ledbetter became a regular feature in Obama's campaign for the White House, addressing the Democratic National Convention in Denver last year and traveling to Washington aboard Obama's train for the inauguration ceremonies. Obama spoke strongly in support of legislation to change the Supreme Court decision during his campaign and the Democratic-controlled Congress moved it to the top of the agenda for the new session that opened this month.
The high court had a person must file a claim of discrimination within 180 days of a company's initial decision to pay a worker less than it pays another worker doing the same job. Under the new bill, given final passage in Congress this week, every new discriminatory paycheck would extend the statute of limitations for another 180 days.
Congress attempted to update the law to extend the time, but the Bush White House and Senate Republicans blocked the legislation in the last session of Congress
Opponents contended the legislation would gut the statute of limitations, encourage lawsuits and be a boon to trial lawyers. They also argued that employees could wait to file claims in hopes of reaping larger damage awards. The bill does not change current law limiting back pay for claimants to two years.
Obama cited Census Bureau figures that women still receive only about 78 cents for every dollar that men get for doing equivalent jobs — ''women of color even less,'' he said.
''Today, in the year 2009, countless women are still losing thousands of dollars in salary, income and retirement savings over the course of a lifetime,'' he said.
This is more than just a women's issue, said Obama.
''It's about parents who find themselves with less money for tuition or child care; couples who wind up with less to retire on; households where, when one breadwinner is paid less than she deserves, that's the difference between affording the mortgage or not; between keeping the heat on, or paying the doctor's bills or not,'' Obama said.
The measure, which amends the 1964 Civil Rights Act, also applies to discrimination based on factors such as race, religion, national origin, disability or age.
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama signed an equal-pay bill into law today before cheering labor and women leaders who fought hard for it and the woman whose history-making lawsuit gave impetus to the cause.
Obama, choosing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act as the first bill to sign as president, called it a ''wonderful day'' and declared that ending pay disparities between men and woman an issue not just for women, but for all workers.
With Ledbetter standing by his side, Obama said she lost more than $200,000 in salary, and even more in pension and Social Security benefits losses that she ''still feels today.'' He then signed the measure that effectively nullifies a 2007 Supreme Court decision and makes it easier for workers to sue for discrimination by allowing them more time to do so.
''Making our economy work means making sure it works for everyone,'' Obama said. ''That there are no second class citizens in our workplaces, and that it's not just unfair and illegal — but bad for business — to pay someone less because of their gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion or disability.''
Ledbetter said she didn't become aware of the large discrepancy in her pay until she neared the end of her 19-year career at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant in Gadsden, Ala, and she filed a lawsuit. But the high court held in a 5-4 decision that she missed her chance to bring the action.
Obama appeared before a jammed East Room audience, and his entrance and many lines of his brief remarks were met with happy applause and yells.
He paid special tribute to Ledbetter, who fought for the bill even though it won't allow her to recover any money for herself.
And in the room were the living symbols of this fight: Nancy Pelosi, first woman speaker of the House, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who took her pursuit of the presidency further than any other woman, even though she ultimately lost to Obama in the Democratic primary season.
Of Ledbetter, Obama exclaimed: ''This grandmother from Alabama kept on fighting, because she was thinking about the next generation.''
First lady Michelle Obama hosted a reception after the ceremony in the State Dining Room.
Ledbetter became a regular feature in Obama's campaign for the White House, addressing the Democratic National Convention in Denver last year and traveling to Washington aboard Obama's train for the inauguration ceremonies. Obama spoke strongly in support of legislation to change the Supreme Court decision during his campaign and the Democratic-controlled Congress moved it to the top of the agenda for the new session that opened this month.
The high court had a person must file a claim of discrimination within 180 days of a company's initial decision to pay a worker less than it pays another worker doing the same job. Under the new bill, given final passage in Congress this week, every new discriminatory paycheck would extend the statute of limitations for another 180 days.
Congress attempted to update the law to extend the time, but the Bush White House and Senate Republicans blocked the legislation in the last session of Congress
Opponents contended the legislation would gut the statute of limitations, encourage lawsuits and be a boon to trial lawyers. They also argued that employees could wait to file claims in hopes of reaping larger damage awards. The bill does not change current law limiting back pay for claimants to two years.
Obama cited Census Bureau figures that women still receive only about 78 cents for every dollar that men get for doing equivalent jobs — ''women of color even less,'' he said.
''Today, in the year 2009, countless women are still losing thousands of dollars in salary, income and retirement savings over the course of a lifetime,'' he said.
This is more than just a women's issue, said Obama.
''It's about parents who find themselves with less money for tuition or child care; couples who wind up with less to retire on; households where, when one breadwinner is paid less than she deserves, that's the difference between affording the mortgage or not; between keeping the heat on, or paying the doctor's bills or not,'' Obama said.
The measure, which amends the 1964 Civil Rights Act, also applies to discrimination based on factors such as race, religion, national origin, disability or age.
Comments
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Richfield, OH
Posted 12:12 PM, 01/29/2009
So now you can sue years after you left the company. Stupid bill.
New Philadelphia, OH
Posted 12:25 PM, 01/29/2009
Where are these jobs that pay different if you are male or female??? I have worked in alot of different industries and have never seen pay based off your sex.
Posted 12:26 PM, 01/29/2009
Here we go!
Posted 12:31 PM, 01/29/2009
I agree more lawsuits
Kent, Oh
Posted 12:57 PM, 01/29/2009
America operates on the basis of law and order. Lawsuits keep us from killing one another.
Obama signed a bill guaranteeing equal pay for equal work, something Chief Justice Roberts couldn't find in previous equal pay legislation as he was looking around for a loophole to reward his corporate masters.
Change has come to America.
Akron, OH
Posted 12:57 PM, 01/29/2009
Scout,
You and me both. This is a perception doesn't meet reality bill.
Posted 01:22 PM, 01/29/2009
It's funny to see non-lawyers react to a bill when they know next to nothing about Statutes of Limitations. The bill allows for a party to file suit against a company for unequal pay within 180 days after the MOST RECENT pay check showing the unequal pay. The Supreme Court ruled that you had to bring suit within 180 days after the FIRST discriminating paycheck. So in the case of Lilly Ledbetter, she worked at Goodyear for 19 years. Her pay was unequal to her male counterparts for almost 15 years, but she had no knowledge of this. When she found out she filed suit. The Supreme Court's ruling was ridiculous and way too much of a burden for any individual to comply with.
and FYI, women are paid 78 cents to every dollar a man makes in the U.S., even if you do not realize it.
Akron, OH
Posted 04:10 PM, 01/29/2009
jsandy,
No, they aren't. That line is garbage and the people repeating don't know what they're even repeating. Have you ever worked in a corporate setting? If so, you would be familiar with the compensation guidelines. Nice try, but a parrot could repeat that $0.78 line. And the parrot would probably be more congenial.
Akron, OH
Posted 04:11 PM, 01/29/2009
"women are paid 78 cents to every dollar a man makes in the U.S...."
This is bogus. Statistics can be manipulated, and these have. Most women do not have the same years of service, the same education, or do EXACTLY the same tasks for less pay as men. If that DOES happen, I agree it should be rectified immediately. It's too bad Goodyear can't still be forced to pay Ms. Ledbetter the wages she rightfully deserved. But how, exactly, do we define, and compare, and come up with a legitimate definition for "equivalent?" That's too difficult to measure, IMO.
