What's Your Salary?

How many of you know what the person working next to you earns? Aren't you just a little bit curious? Salaries have traditionally been a secret, something you don't talk about in polite company. I mean really, how would you react if I walked up and ask, so tell me ... how much DO you make? We just don't talk about it.

That is what makes the Ledbetter Supreme Court decision so egregious. Lilly Ledbetter worked at Goodyear Tire & Rubber for 19 years. She was a good employee, got to work on time, did her job day in and day out, and only learned after she retired that she earned considerably less than the men she worked with who were doing the same job.

This should be of interest to men and women, because when women earn less than men it hurts their entire family. It's lost income for everyone living under that roof.

Ledbetter filed a lawsuit, and initially was awarded $3 million in damages. The case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where by a decision of 5-4 the Justices reversed the lower court ruling.

In a sharply worded dissent Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the court ignored the "real-world characteristics of pay discrimination."

Ginsburg said it was unreasonable to expect Ledbetter and other women to know immediately that their pay was out of line ... [and] that an employee may "have little reason even to suspect discrimination until a pattern develops incrementally and she ultimately becomes aware of" the pay disparity with her male colleagues.

Women are fighting back, and included below is a message I received today from the National Women's Law Center:

Dear BAC,

I’m a former employee of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. For close to two decades, I was paid less than my male co-workers — even though I was doing the same work they were, and doing it well. The company kept the discrimination quiet and I didn't know about the pay gap until I got an anonymous note about it. Seeking to rectify this injustice, I brought Goodyear to court.

A jury found that Goodyear had discriminated and awarded me more than $3 million in damages. But Goodyear appealed my case all the way to the Supreme Court and got a reversal of the jury verdict by one vote. The Court said I should have filed my complaint within six months of the original act of discrimination — even though at the time I didn't know the discrimination was happening, let alone have enough evidence to complain.

My case set a new and dangerous precedent. According to the Court, if pay discrimination isn't challenged within six months, a company can pay a woman less than a man for the rest of the woman's career. I wonder what other forms of discrimination the Supreme Court will permit in the future.

Fortunately, the Senate is now considering the Fair Pay Restoration Act. If it passes, this bill would tell the Supreme Court it got it wrong. The bill would give all employees a better shot at a fair workplace, making it easier to ensure justice for those who have been discriminated against based on sex, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, and age.

My court case is over, but thanks to the National Women’s Law Center and dedicated individuals like you, the fight against pay discrimination continues. Please join us by signing the Fair Pay Campaign Pledge. Help ensure that our daughters and granddaughters have a shot at a fair workplace and a better future.

Sincerely,
Lilly Ledbetter

Take action! Sign the Fair Play Campaign Pledge, and urge others to do so as well.