From Snuggies to vitriol…
Some of you may have seen the news yesterday about the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Lilly Ledbetter spent 19 years working at the Goodyear plant in Gadsden Alabama as a supervisor. Just before she retired, she found out that for those 19 years, she had been paid less than her male counterparts – even the ones with much less experience (and we're not talking 1962 - this case was from 2002!).
The lower courts decided that Goodyear was guilty [even if the plant IS in Alabama], but the Supreme Court threw out Ledbetter’s case, ruling that she should have filed her suit within 180 days of the first time she was discriminated against [i.e., she was a little tardy hacking into the payroll records].
19 years? The first thing I thought of was that her HR department can sure keep a secret better than any HR department I have ever worked with. The second thing I thought of was…who in the world at Goodyear made the decision to fight this, with all of its boffo publicity? Perhaps Goodyear should’ve just paid the $300k penalty?? “Congratulations on your Supreme Court victory [ummmm, remind me never to buy Goodyear tires again, would you?].”
So yesterday the President signed a law that wrote that nonsense off the books and gave people 180 days from the last act of discrimination to file a claim. Seems pretty reasonable.
But only FIVE Republican Senators voted in favor of it…four women and Arlen Specter. Seriously? Are those other 34 Senators married to a potted plant? How exactly did they explain their vote to their wife????
--We think women already make too much money
--I ran for office on a law and order platform and insist on seeing lawbreakers appropriately punished. Oh…wait a minute here….
--If you don’t stand up and cause trouble when you are brand-spanking new during the first six months on a new job, than I can't help you.
Apparently, these senators do not know any of the women I work with, live with, am related to….ummm these senators don’t know any women, do they?? So what would the Republicans who voted against this bill have in place? As long as you don’t get caught discriminating against someone in the first six months – you are grandfathered in! Nice. So let me just get this straight…we don’t want amnesty for law-abiding “undocumenteds”, but we are okay with amnesty for law-breaking discriminators. Just sayin'
Now back to my Snuggie.
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This case has always had me baffled. In most cases (save for government jobs and professional athletes), employee salaries are confidential. It's possible that many who are or have been discriminated against will never know it, even after they leave or retire. So, even with the "Ledbetter Fair Pay Act" in place, if you suspect discrimination, what is the mechanism to find out if you're right? I didn't read about one being in the bill. And trying to get info from a company you've left or retired from will no doubt take more than the 6-month grace period allows.
I agree with you about Goodyear's amazing HR/payroll secrecy as well as their questionable decision to fight the case. Of course, being the Devil's advocate (I'm related on my dad's side), I also thought "Hmmm...she was a supervisor for 19 years and never got or requested a promotion? Maybe there was some _other_ reason she was the lowest paid supervisor?"
OK, now back to important stuff:
Go Steelers!!!
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