Who is Lilly Ledbetter?

After the Wednesday, October 15, last presidential debate between Senators Obama and McCain, one might ask - who is this Lilly Ledbetter anyway? Senator Obama referred to her in the debate discussion about the criteria for presidential nomination of judges to the U. S. Supreme Court.

I first blogged about Lilly Ledbetter on June 13, 2007.

Lilly Ledbetter began work at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in 1979. She retired in November 1998, after earning thousands of dollars less than male colleagues who were doing similar supervisory work. She did not know about the pay difference at the time or when it began. She had no way to learn about it because Goodyear kept salary information confidential.

When Ledbetter finally became aware of the pay discrimination, she filed a discrimination charge with the EEOC and in November 1998, she filed sit in Federal District Court. The jury found in her favor and awarded back pay and damages. Goodyear appealed and the Eleventh District Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision because she had not filed suit within the 180-day timeline in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Ledbetter requested a writ of certiorari and the Supreme Court agreed to hear her case. In May 2007, The Court ruled 5 to 4 against her in Ledbetter v.Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. The five justices in the majority were Roberts, Alito, Thomas, Scalia, and Kennedy - all Republican appointees to the Court. Justice Alito delivered the court opinion, saying that Ledbetter should have sued when the pay decisions were made instead of waiting beyond the 180-day statutory limit.

Justice Ginsburg's dissent from the Court's opinion was joined by Justices Stevens, Souter, and Breyer and argued against the 180-day limit being applied to pay discrimination. Justice Ginsburg argued that pay discrimination often occurs in small increments over large periods of time and the pay information of fellow workers is typically confidential and unavailable for comparison.

Any wonder why the issue of appointments to the Supreme Court is so critical in this election?

Soon after the Court's decision, the U. S. House of Representatives passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. However, a similar bill in the U. S. Senate, sponsored by Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy and Republican Senator Olympia Snow, is opposed by the Bush Administration and has been effectively blocked by the Republicans in the Senate. They have enough votes to deny backers of the bill the 60 votes needed to bring it to the floor for a vote.

Senator Obama supports the bill; Senators McCain and Coleman are counted among the blockers!