Compensation 279
The Fair Pay Act was introduced by Senator Tom Harkin (D - Iowa)
and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D - Washington, DC) introduced the
bill in the House. The act would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938 to prohibit discrimination in the payment of wages on account of sex,
race, or national origin and for other purposes. The bill seeks to end wage
discrimination against those who work in female - dominated or minority -
dominated jobs by establishing equal pay for equivalent work. The Fair Pay
Act makes exceptions for different wage rates based on a seniority system,
a merit system, or a system in which earnings are measured by quantity
or quality of production, or differentials based on bona fi de factors that
the employer demonstrates are job - related or further legitimate business
interests. It also contains a small business exemption. On July 31, 2008, the
House of Representatives passed the Paycheck Fairness Act, H.R. 1338, by
a vote of 248 – 178. However, the White House issued a veto threat.
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act fell short of the required sixty votes
in the U.S. Senate. The act would have reinstated the reasonable rule for
fi ling claims of discriminatory pay practices that prevailed until the U.S.
Supreme Court decision, Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. (2007). The
Court ruled fi ve to four that Lilly Ledbetter, the only female supervisor at
a tire plant in Gadsen, Alabama, did not fi le her lawsuit against Goodyear
Tire and Rubber Co. in the time frame specifi ed in Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964. The law requires that a suit be fi led within 180 days
“ after the alleged unlawful practice occurred. ” Ledbetter argued that she
had been discriminated against throughout her career, receiving smaller
raises than the men received, and that each paycheck was a new viola-
tion. Justice Ruth Ginsburg, joined by Justices John Paul Stevens, David
H. Souter, and Stephen G. Breyer, said the decision set up a sometimes
impossible barrier: “ Pay disparities often occur, as they did in Ledbetter ’ s
case, in small increments; only over time is there strong cause to suspect
that discrimination at work.... Even when unequal pay is discovered,
women may be reluctant to go to federal court over small amounts. An
employee like Ledbetter, trying to succeed in a male - dominated work-
place, in a job fi lled only by men before she was hired, understandably
may be anxious to avoid making waves. ” Backers of the Senate bill noted
that many workers could not be certain what their colleagues were mak-
ing and would not be able to initiate legal actions within 180 days of the
fi rst instance of discrimination. Pay discrimination has long - term conse-
quences. Ledbetter ’ s lower salary over the years she worked for Goodyear
Tire and Rubber Co. has resulted in a lower pension and lower Social
Security benefi ts.