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Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Courts - More on "Justices’ Ruling in Discrimination Case May Draw Quick Action by Obama"
Updating this ILB entry from Jan. 5th, Robert Pear of the NY Times reports:
Congress gave final approval on Tuesday to a civil rights bill providing women, blacks and Hispanics with powerful new tools to challenge pay discrimination in the workplace. It is likely to be the first significant legislation signed by President Obama.See also this story by Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post. A quote:The 250-to-177 vote in the House came five days after the Senate passed the bill, 61 to 36.
The bill, named for Lilly M. Ledbetter, a longtime supervisor at a Goodyear tire plant in Alabama, would make it easier for workers to win lawsuits claiming pay discrimination based on sex, race, religion, national origin, age or disability.
Under the bill, workers may bring a lawsuit for up to six months after they receive any paycheck that they allege is discriminatory. The high court had held that such cases could be brought only within six months of the discrimination's beginning, rejecting a long-held interpretation by lower courts and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that each paycheck represented a fresh act of discrimination.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 28, 2009 09:49 AM
Posted to Courts in general