Discriminatory Pay and The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009
The bill that President Obama recently signed into law significantly increases the protections that employees have against discriminatory pay differences. Women who are paid less than their male counterparts, for example, will now have greater opportunities to seek remedies in court.
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 states that an unlawful employment practice, such as a female being paid less than male co-workers, occurs not only when the discriminatory decision is made, but also “when an individual is affected by application of a discriminatory compensation decision . . .” This means that instead of looking at when the discriminatory decision was made, courts will now look at when the impact of the discriminatory decision occurs.
Accordingly, employees like Lilly Ledbetter, who unknowingly suffered years of discriminatory pay discrepancies based on her gender, will be able to seek relief, regardless of the fact that the discrimination occurred years ago. The courts will now – more appropriately – focus on the discriminatory conduct that is actually occurring.
