CURRENT+EVENT


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**CURRENT EVENT :** Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.
On May 29, 2007, the Supreme Court ruled against a female employee of a company, Goodyear, who had been being paid thousands of dollars less than her fellow male employees. Lilly Ledbetter had waited too long to complain that sex discrimination was keeping her from being paid the same amount as men who were doing similar work. Ledbetter was making $45,000 a year- $6,500 less than the lowest wage for a male supervisor. However, the company said that she was wrong in stating that discrimination was causing the lower wages, and that the actual reason was because of poor performance.

At first, a jury had been on Ledbetter’s side, but then an appeals court had overturned the decision. Now, the Supreme Court has limited workers’ abilities to sue. A 5-4 decision supported a federal civil rights law, setting a 180-day deadline for employees wishing to complain about being paid less due to their sex, race, religion, or national origin. Justice Samuel Alito writes, "employers would find it difficult to defend against claims arising from employment decisions that are long past”. He also stated that, “the passage of time may seriously diminish the ability of the parties and the fact finder to reconstruct what actually happened.”

In court, Justice Ginsburg brought up another point. Ledbetter’s pay had originally been quite comparable to the men’s, but had begun to slip over time. Ginsburg had also said that the choice that Ledbetter was facing was quite difficult to make. She could either sue early and probably lose easily, or wait until more evidence had been obtained, and risk being told she had sued too late. From this point of view, it seemed that it was almost pointless for her to even argue for her rights. Still, one lawyer, Debra Friedman, made a good point by saying, “Pay discrimination is difficult at times to discover until it’s too late.”

Those who sided with Ledbetter included the NAACP, AARP, and other civil rights groups. They argued that no employee should have to take consequences for discrimination. Others, such as Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership of Women & Families, think that if some employers can keep the discrimination hidden for long enough, they will be able to prevent themselves from getting into trouble with the law.

Both sides argue a strong point, but the decision has been made. Lilly Ledbetter will have to wait for another court case to come up before she can get back her civil rights that she believes she has been deprived of.

Click the MSNBC link below to watch a video about this event and learn more!


 * Citation ::** [|MSNBC]