The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 has passed the House, and the President says he will sign it.
Here is language from the bill:
`(3)(A) For purposes of this section, an unlawful employment practice occurs, with respect to discrimination in compensation in violation of this title, when a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice is adopted, when an individual becomes subject to a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, or when an individual is affected by application of a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, including each time wages, benefits or other compensation is paid, resulting in whole or in part from such a decision or other practice.
This language applies in cases of discrimination in compensation because of race, color, religion, gender, national origin or age.
Scotusblog has a post about the legislation here. Excerpt:
The key provision says that “an unlawful employment practice occurs” not only when a compensation policy or practice is adopted, but also when a worker becomes subject to the policy, or when the policy is applied to any worker “each time wages, benefits, or other compensation is paid,” resulting from the discriminatory policy.In referring to benefits, as well as wages, the new Act might be interpreted to mean that a workers’ entitlement to something other than wages or salary may be covered, so long as it is tied to the discriminatory pay scale. Thus, pension benefits linked to wage or salary levels perhaps also are covered.
The bill has a retroactive effective date of May 28, 2007.
Query as to whether benefits were always really protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and whether this new law will simply mean that the payment of a benefit can extend the time frame for filing a claim under the Act. Since pension plans and retiree medical plans many times pay benefits long after a person retires, does this language mean that claims could still be filed based upon the payment of these pension or retiree medical benefits? That is a scary thought for employers, and one that would likely contribute to the further demise of these plans.
UPDATE: The Heritage Foundation discusses the legislation here. Excerpt:
The bill would adopt [Supreme Court Justice] Ginsburg’s view, amending a variety of anti-discrimination laws to the effect that a violation occurs “each time wages, benefits, or other compensation is paid” that is affected by any discriminatory practice. In this way, the law would simply eliminate the limitations period as applied to many cases.Under the Ledbetter Act, employees could sue at any time after alleged discrimination occurred, so long as they have received any compensation affected by it in the preceding 180 days. While this would certainly reverse Ledbetter, it goes much further by removing any time limitation on suing in pay-related cases, even limitations relating to the employee’s learning of the discrimination–an approach that is known in other contexts, such as fraud, as a “discovery rule.” This new rule is also broader in that it would apply to any (alleged) discrimination that has had an (alleged) effect on pay, such as an adverse promotion decision. In addition, retirees could bring suits alleging pay-related discrimination that occurred decades ago if they are presently receiving benefits, such as pensions or health care, arguably effected by the long-ago discrimination.
Additional query as to what this legislation will do to releases that employees are often asked to sign upon receiving severance pay.
UPDATE: The President has now signed the bill.