The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Introduction It is a well-accepted fact that women are increasingly taking up employment opportunities in today’s labor market, which at face value seems to offer equal rights to both men and women in the workplace. It is for this reason I have chosen this topic as it champions for the equality of all human beings regardless of disability, gender or race She argued that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of and the Equal Pay Act of , her rights had been violated and she deserved monetary compensation. Ledbetter’s case first saw action in her local District Court The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is a federal statute signed by Congress on January 29, This act forbids sex discrimination in the workplace when men and women are performing the same job. In , the U.S Census Bureau recorded that for every dollar a man earned, women only earned 78 cents
Essay Pay Discrimination: Lilly Ledbetter’s Fight for | Bartleby
It is for this reason I have chosen this topic as it champions for the equality of all human beings regardless of disability, gender or race. However, there are still a number of cases where remuneration packages offered to women are significantly lower than similar packages offered to other employees of the opposite gender.
This translates to thousands of dollars in losses in the working life of a woman. To address this situation, litigation is the only process available to a complainant.
Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has ruled on several cases, which have in effect made it very difficult for plaintiffs to access viable claims for equal pay through litigation. The US Supreme Court previously required that the plaintiff had to file for an equal Pay litigation claim within days after the first discriminatory decision to pay a female worker unfairly in relation to other male counterparts Sorock, This judicial precedent provided that most plaintiffs were disadvantaged as most women were not on a lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay to lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay of any differences in pay when beginning employment rendering impossible for them to bring about any successful claim.
The Lilly Ledbetter Act is the first law that President Obama accented to after he assumed presidency in Roach, The Lilly Ledbetter Act allows courts of law to treat every successive discriminatory paycheck as a new action towards female employee discrimination, lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay.
The Act allows women to present discrimination claims 6 months after each such payment check. Lilly McDaniel was born in Jacksonville, Alabama and in graduated from the Jacksonville High school.
She was born to J. She was married to Charles Ledbetter after her high school graduation until his death in She began working as an employee with the Alabama Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in late as a night shift supervisor. She worked a twelve-hour shift, reporting at 7. m and leaving at 7. In most cases, she was the only female management employee at work within the plant.
There are reports indicating that a supervisor once offered her better employment evaluation status if she agreed to accord him sexual favors. The male supervisor was reassigned after she reported of the incidence to the EEOC Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
This resulted in her feeling alienated by her male counterparts and treated differently though she continued to diligently work and excel in her appointed capacity so much as to deserve the Top Performance Award with the same company Roach, In the third month ofshe received an interesting note from an anonymous source listing monthly earnings of three of her colleagues in management. Before her receipt of this note, she had no prior knowledge that such a disparity existed. She worked at the company for nineteen years.
All through her employment to the time of retirement, bonuses and raises were accorded to her periodically. The company, lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay, though, had a strict confidentiality policy that required employees to keep details of their monthly payments secret Sullivan, This ensured that she could not learn of the disparities in remuneration that existed between her paycheck and that of her male colleagues. Lilly reported to have felt quite humiliated on the lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay and on her next free day made a point to file a complaint at the EEOC, lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay.
Goodyear announced that it had intentions to close down the Alabama plant but it did not though it did lay off a number of employees among them Lilly Ledbetter who was forced into early retirement Roach, In her retirement, lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay, Lilly Ledbetter sued Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in an effort to lay claim on the disproportionate pay she had consistently earned over the year period she worked at the company George, This she pointed out was in gross violation of Title VII under the Civil Rights Act.
She appealed consistently against adverse rulings all the way to the US Supreme Court. Her tireless activism pushed on by others who had experienced the same or other form of discrimination led to enacting of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
Lilly Ledbetter was an employee of the Alabama Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company from late up to her early retirement in early To further strengthen her claim, she produced evidence indicating that while in employment at the company, a number of supervisors poorly evaluated job performance on the basis of her gender.
Such lopsided evaluations ensured that her monthly pay received minimal increments thus making her earn much less than she would have if the evaluations were conducted in a fair manner. Similar appraisal decisions continuously affected her net monthly pay all through her employment at Goodyear George, Before the enactment of the Fair Pay Act inthe Federal discrimination laws required aggrieved employees to file complaints of discrimination at the EEOC offices in less than days after knowledge of the discrimination was acquired Sullivan, In the conclusion of the first case, jury of the court found the company liable and ordering damages to be paid to Lilly as well as back payments.
However, the Court of Appeals reversed this decision in favor of Goodyear. The bone of contention in the Supreme Court was as to whether payments discrimination complaints were to be considered within the statutory period defined by the time from which knowledge of disparate pay is acquired, lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay.
Or, were these to be considered as intentional discriminatory payments decisions accruing from without the limitations period provided for as a statutory requirement Roach, The majority of the Supreme Court fudges were of the view that Miss Ledbetter ought to have filed an official EEOC charge before days elapsed after each alleged discriminatory payment decision and communication of the same received by the plaintiff.
This view of the court was based on a previous ruling in the case of National R. Passenger Corp. Morgan Roach, The Court upheld the fact that for actions of discrete discrimination, the plaintiff is obligated to seek legal redress before days have elapsed since these were first observed or knowledge of such acts was realized. The doctrine for continuing violations was dismissed by the Morgan Court though some lower courts had indeed allowed plaintiffs with similar discrimination law suits to legally challenge such actions.
This however, was only allowed on the ground that one such action had to have occurred before days had elapsed in which time the plaintiff ought to have filled due charges with the EEOC Sullivan, As such the Court observed that pre-existing effects alone failed to give life to other previously uncharged discrimination acts.
With the same effect, the Court decided that payment checks Ledbetter received within the days preceding filling of discrimination with the EEOC were not a viable basis for effectively defeating her failure to previously file the appropriate charge in days after such a payment. Justice Ginsburg, a Supreme Court judge who sat at the 9 judge bench in the Ledbetter v.
She bravely urged the US Congress to adequately address and appropriately correct wrongful interpretation as is the norm with the majority. Justice Ginsburg was further inclined to such redress was necessary as a means for extensive remedial purposes. She urged the US Congress to correct misconstrued lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay of Title VII Ginsburg, The Ledbetter decision dismissed the payment check accumulation rule.
The employee was therefore only allowed a day timeline, even though such an employee had no knowledge of such disparity. The Fair Pat Act also brought about amendments to other related legislature such as the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act passed into law inthe rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act as lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay as the Age Discrimination in Employment Act Sorock, lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay, The Act was made effective as from the 28 th of May,the day preceding the Supreme Courts ruling of the original Lilly Ledbetter case World at Work Public Policy, It accommodates all claims involving discriminatory action in compensation which were pending on that date or after.
However, it was shelved until President Obama won the presidential elections. Support from the Democrats saw the reintroduced bill which was aimed at limiting available employer defenses as well as providing for uncapped compensation and punitive damages. The second reason for the enactment of this law was to clearly offer a definition as to what actions constitute discrimination. The Act also provided for the recovery in back pay to a maximum of 2 years prior to filing of a discriminatory act claim such that it expounded to include broader descriptions of discriminatory acts Sorock, It provided that, illegal practices in employment committed as charges were being filed or in the duration of such filing are deemed to be related or similar to other unlawful service or employment practice.
This is with respect to discrimination acts which have occurred beyond or before the time of filing such a charge.
Unemployment practices that are illegal under the Act include, discriminatory decisions made with respect to compensation or such other adopted practice, lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay. Where, a person is subjected to a discriminatory decision with regard to compensation or any other such practice. In such cases where a person is affected as a result of an application of an action that is discriminatory with respect to compensation or such other practice World at Work Public Policy, This includes every time wages and benefits or any other form of compensation is made, resulting entirely or in part from any discriminatory decision or such other practice.
One such instance is that the Act does not clearly define the provision stipulating the legislation applies to any person affected as a result of an employment practice that is unlawful World at Work Public Policy, This could in lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay sense be construed to be inclusive of other persons such as members of a family affected by such a discriminatory action. The Fair Pay Act provides for discrimination decisions on compensation to be inclusive of wages and benefits or any such other compensation.
A question arises as to whether such definition accommodates compensations such as bonuses, incentives or lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay payments. A majority of such provisions will have to be clarified by courts of law.
Implications of the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act on the Human Resource Management Profession. This legislation has brought about secondary considerations in the human resource profession. As such HR managers as well as business owners have to consistently keep alert with regard to employee claims whether from those present or former ones alleging payment actions which may continue to impact employees receiving less benefits or pay Lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay at Work Public Policy, There also arises the need for employers and HR departments to keep abreast with past discriminatory claims issues being raised presently even though some cases may have been solved in the lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay. Changes on records should be made with regard to retention policies so as to ensure maintenance of all documented records involving payments.
Such may include considerations for employee training, performance appraisals or promotions World at Work Public Policy, The main goal of this legislation was ensure that the core issue of any compensation agenda which is to ensure equity and fairness is adequately reinforced through the Fair Pay Act. This legislation has come to champion for dignity in the workplace through fair play ensuring the discrimination of any kind is eliminated. This has been further seconded by amendments that this law gave to earlier legislation concerning employee employer relations.
The broad implications of this law have effectively called for transparency and accountability on the part of HR departments. This calls for wider consultations among HR departments and hiring managers in companies to ensure that implications of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act are critically addressed. As such the main outcome of the passing of this legislation has been to compel employers and more so HR departments, to audit existing compensation practices to eliminate any chance of discriminatory or disparate treatments of any kind.
Chamallas, M. Ledbetter, Gender Lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay and Institutional Context, lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay. Ohio State Law Journal, lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay, 70, Chaney, J. George, B. Ledbetter v. Goodyear: A court out of touch with the realities of the American Workplace. Ledbetter, L, lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay. My Fight for Equal Pay and Fairness at Goodyear and Beyond.
New York: Three Rivers Press, lilly ledbetter fair pay act essay. Roach, B. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act: Paving the Way for Equal Pay Claims. The Forum on Public Policy.
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The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Introduction It is a well-accepted fact that women are increasingly taking up employment opportunities in today’s labor market, which at face value seems to offer equal rights to both men and women in the workplace. It is for this reason I have chosen this topic as it champions for the equality of all human beings regardless of disability, gender or race Jan 06, · The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of (Pub.L. , S. ) is a federal statute in the United States that was the first bill signed into law by President Barack Obama on January 29, The Act amends the Civil Rights Act of She argued that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of and the Equal Pay Act of , her rights had been violated and she deserved monetary compensation. Ledbetter’s case first saw action in her local District Court
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