Suttons Bay Law

Lilly Ledbetter became a national celebrity when Congress passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 in January of this year. Ledbetter had sued her employer, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, after learning that she had been paid less than her male co-workers for a number of years. Initially, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the statute of limitations had run and that Ledbetter could not pursue her claim. With considerable speed and fairly broad bipartisan support, Congress responded with the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, making clear its intention to discourage discriminatory pay practices. Under the Act, every paycheck that is issued revives or continues the unfair pay practice. As a result, disparities that were first put in place many years ago can still provide the basis for a claim against the employer.

Given the national attention the new administration and the media have drawn to this particular legislation, employers may expect that both employees and regulatory agencies will have a renewed interest in investigating and pursuing claims based on unequal pay practices. For this reason, companies should conduct a rigorous audit of their own payrolls. In particular, companies need to question and challenge disparities in pay among employees in similar positions to ensure that there is a logical, non-discriminatory reason for that disparity. If your organization has not conducted such an audit, or does not know how to do so, contact the attorneys at Wright Penning & Beamer for assistance.

Dirk A. Beamer
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Tags: Employment Law //