House Passes Fair Pay Bill

The House passed a measure Tuesday that would overturn a recent Supreme Court decision to revoke the rights of workers to sue over pay discrimination, reports Mike  Hall of the AFL-CIO Now Blog. “Working people in America are one step closer to having their civil rights restored, thanks to the House passage of this important bill,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. The bill – the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act – is named after a female Goodyear worker who brought suit against Goodyear for pay discrimination. Goodyear appealed the case all the way to the Supreme Court, where the court rejected Ledbetter’s case. In the court’s 5-4 decision, the court found workers could not sue over pay discrimination if they “wait more than 180 days after their first short paycheck, even if workers don’t discover the pay discrimination until years later,” Hall reports. A similar bill – the Fair Pay Restoration Act – has been introduced in the Senate but will not be voted on until after the August recess. President Bush has threatened to veto both acts. (r) Lilly Ledbetter, photo by Butch Dill/Washington Post