Have you heard of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act?  If not, you soon will.  President Obama will probably sign this bill into law in a few days or weeks, and will make every working woman in America smile while doing it.

What is the LLFPA?  This bill, which passed in the House and the Senate last week, establishes new timelines for equal pay lawsuits for women.  In a nutshell, under the old law, women have 180 days from the time date the pay decision was made to file an equal pay lawsuit.  So ladies, if you feel that you are being paid less than the men in your office who are doing the same work, under the old law - you are already out of luck if you've been in your job or receiving that pay rate for more than six months.  The clock would only reset when your pay changes, due to raises, pay cuts, etc.  Can you imagine trying to sue your employer after only six months with a company?  Can you imagine suing your company six months after they just gave you a raise

This became the law of the land when the Supreme Court ruled against Lilly Ledbetter and in favor of the Goodyear Tire Company back in 2007.  Mrs. Ledbetter went to the EEOC and filed charges against Goodyear after she retired in 1998, charging them pay discrimination.  Mrs. Ledbetter claimed that while the suit was filed long after the pay decision was made, the results of the discrimination were ongoing, and occurred well within the 180 day period.  The case made its way to the Supreme Court, who ruled that Mrs. Ledbetter could not sue Goodyear for any discriminatory actions that occurred 180 days prior to when she filed charges with the EEOC.  This decision eliminated her complaint of ongoing discrimination, and any hope she had for receiving compensation.

Once President Obama uses his left hand and signs the LLFPA (get your minds out of the gutter people!) that 180 day statute of limitations restarts with each recent paycheck.  This means that women can file equal pay lawsuits up to 180 days after the most recent paycheck was received.  In addition, women can sue up to two years of back pay.  While this law is not exclusively for women, it is of particular importance to them due to the continuing salary discrimination women experience today.  While the bill cannot change things for Mrs. Ledbetter, it definitely brightens the future for women all over this nation.

The bill passed in the House last week, with 247 vote for and 171 votes against.  In the Senate, the vote was 61 for and 36 against.  The 61 in favor included every Democratic Senator and four Republican Senators.  Those four Republican Senators just happened to be women.  Bipartisanship at its best!!

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