More on Lilly Ledbetter

PunditMom, who I had the good fortune to meet this week, has an excellent idea in her post: Goodyear, You Can Spare $360K for Lilly Ledbetter

As so many women have been basking in the glow of the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the news reports reminded us that even though Lilly has become a standard bearer for the fight for fair pay for women, Lilly herself will never see a nickel of the money that she sued Goodyear Rubber & Tire for. [...]

It's really been bothering me that a corporation like Goodyear that reported profits of $602 million in 2007 (its most current annual SEC filing) most likely spent much more on attorneys' fees than the $360K it could have paid Lilly, trying to convince us it didn't practice gender discrimination. According to its 2007 annual report, Goodyear did, however, pay millions to settle other types of lawsuits. So I thought, wouldn't it be refreshing if Goodyear would do the right thing and pay Lilly Ledbetter the back wages it should have paid her in the first place?

If we really want to honor Lilly and what she did for us and for our daughters (and our sons -- they'll benefit from this, as well), I say we should all call on Goodyear to pay Lilly what it should have paid her to begin with. You don't even need an envelope or stamp. Here's a link to the Goodyear site with the names and online form to contact Goodyear's Global and Corporate Communications honchos.

PunditMom even included a suggested letter you could send:

Dear Goodyear:

Now that President Obama has reversed the Supreme Court decision that denied Lilly Ledbetter her $360,000 in back pay, we call on you to do the right thing and pay Lilly what she should have been paid over the course of 20 years. While the new Ledbetter Law is not retroactive, think about all the public goodwill Goodyear would receive in these tough economic times if it stepped up and did the right thing by Lilly.

Sincerely yours,

(name)

Hey, if you don't ask the answer is always "no."

Senate Passes Lilly Ledbetter Act

The Senate, tonight, passed the Lilly Ledbetter Act. The version is slightly different from what the House passed earlier, so once the House passes the revised version the bill will be on its way to the President for his signature.

The Washington Post reports:

A wage discrimination bill that heralds the pro-labor policies of the Democratic-controlled Congress and White House cleared the Senate Thursday and could be on President Barack Obama's desk within days.

The legislation reverses a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that narrowly defines the time period during which a worker can file a claim of wage discrimination, even if the worker is unaware for months or years that he or she is getting less than colleagues doing the same job. It has been a priority for women's groups seeking to narrow the wage gap between men and women. [...]

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid predicted that "the first bill that President Obama will sign will be this piece of legislation." He said the bill would send an important message because "this administration stands for equality and fairness."

Obama strongly backs the measure and invited Lilly Ledbetter, the retired Alabama tire company worker whose lawsuit inspired the legislation, to accompany him on the train trip bringing him to Washington for the inauguration.

Bush had threatened to veto the bill, but it never made it out of the Senate. This is a good day for women!

Tonight We Party

I loved seeing our new President dancing with Lilly Ledbetter at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball. The House just passed the Lilly Ledbetter Act, and we are now waiting for the Senate to follow. This courageous woman is working tirelessly to try and prevent other women from facing the same discrimination she faced during her 19 years at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

The Chicago Sun Times reports:

Legislation to combat pay discrimination is advancing in Congress, including one bill that would reverse a controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision that restricted workers' ability to sue for pay discrimination and another that would expand the amount of damages victims could receive.

Both bills passed in the House earlier this month, and the so-called Lilly Ledbetter bill moved closer to a vote in the Senate on Thursday. The Senate voted 72-23 to consider that bill, which would reverse a Supreme Court ruling that a worker must file claims of wage discrimination within 180 days of the first decision to pay that worker less, even if the person was unaware of the pay disparity. A final Senate vote could come next week.

Thank you Lilly, for standing up for all of us!

Woman of Courage Lilly Ledbetter

One of the things I've always enjoyed about being involved with NOW is the opportunity to meet courageous women who are working to make a difference for all of us. One of those women is Lilly Ledbetter.

For 19 years Lilly worked at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber production plant in Alabama. She was hired as a supervisor in 1979, received excellent employment evaluations over the years and was even selected to take on a special task for the company.

When she discovered that men doing her same job were earning much more, some as much as 40% more, she took her employer to court. A jury agreed that she was paid unfairly, and awarded her $223,776 in back pay, and more than $3 million in punitive damages, but a judge cut that to only $300,000 because of a 1991 law that limits a company's liability for damages.

Goodyear took the case to the Supreme Court, which ruled 5-4 against her, taking away every cent of the damages and back pay. In a decision written by Bush nominee Justice Samuel Alito, the Court told Ledbetter that she should have filed a complaint of pay discrimination within 180 days of her first unfair paycheck, even though she had no knowledge of the disparity.

Lilly Ledbetter may never recover the pay she rightly earned. But federal legislation has been introduced in her name in an effort to restore the true intention of Title VII of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, and protect other women from wage discrimination.

The House has passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, but the bill fell four votes short in the Senate. Republicans, who have used the filibuster at an alarming rate (up more than 150%) blocked the bill from even coming to the floor for consideration.

Ledbetter said she was surprised to receive a personal call from Sen. Hillary Clinton when the Supreme Court decision was announced. Both Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama interrupted their campaigning last April to fly back to Washington for the Senate vote.

NOW presented Ledbetter a Woman of Courage award today, and she truly deserves it. She not only stood up to Goodyear, but to family and friends who thought she should just leave well enough alone.

But the question remains: Why should women settle for less than what men are paid? And as I have said before, when women are paid less than men EVERYONE suffers. The additional $223,776 in back pay Lilly EARNED could have paid off a mortgage, paid college tuition, or could have been invested to insure her retirement.

When women are discriminated against, everyone in the family suffers.

Lilly Ledbetter will probably never recover the pay she rightly earned, but the federal legislation in her name could restore the true intention of Title VII of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 -- and protect other women from wage discrimination.

We must make this a priority of our new Congress ... and president.