U.S. Supreme Court Limits Lawsuits for Unequal Pay
A divided Supreme Court ruled today that workers may not sue their employers for unequal pay because of discrimination that may have occurred years earlier.
The court ruled 5-4 that Lilly Ledbetter, a supervisor at a tire plant in Gadsden, Alabama, did not file her lawsuit against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. in the timely manner specified by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
A jury had originally awarded her more than $3.5 million because it found it "more likely than not" that sex discrimination during her 19-year career led to her being paid substantially less than her male counterparts.
An appeals court reversed, saying the law requires the suit be filed within 180 days "after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred," and Ledbetter couldn't prove discrimination within that time period. She had argued that she was discriminated against throughout her career and each paycheck that was less because of discrimination was a new violation.
The conservative majority of the court disagreed, and upheld the appeals court.
"Current effects alone can't breathe life into prior, uncharged discrimination," Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., wrote for the majority. He was joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., and Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, a former head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
"We apply the statute as written, and this means that any unlawful employment practice, including those involving compensation, must be presented ... within the period prescribed by the statute."
Alito said employers should not have to defend themselves against complaints of bias from the distant past. The "short deadline" contained in the law, Alito wrote, "reflects Congress's strong preference for the prompt resolution of employment discrimination allegations through voluntary conciliation and cooperation."
The opinion drew a rebuke from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the court's only woman, who said "Title VII was meant to govern real-world employment practices, and that world is what the court today ignores."
Ginsburg read a statement from the bench, just as she had when the court upheld the federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act, which outlawed a specific abortion procedure, something Ginsburg said eroded women's rights. In both cases, Ginsburg was joined by Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter and Stephen G. Breyer.
Justice Ginsburg stated that the court majority "does not comprehend, or is indifferent to, the insidious way in which women can be victims of pay discrimination."
The case is Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.
