期刊名称：Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review
印刷版ISSN：0017-8039
电子版ISSN：1943-5061
出版年度：2008
卷号：43
期号：02
出版社：Harvard Law School
摘要：When the Supreme Court decided Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rub-
ber Co.
1 last year, holding that an employee must assert a Title VII pay
discrimination claim within 180 days2 of when the pay decision was first
made, commentators—both legal and non-legal—immediately recognized
the obstacle the decision poses for individuals suffering from discrimination
in pay. American workers rarely know what their co-workers are paid, mak-
ing it difficult to complain about a disparity.
3 And, even if they are aware of
a pay disparity and suspect discrimination early on, the disparity may not be
worth fighting for, or even make a winnable case, until it magnifies over
time (through, for example, a policy of calculating future raises as a percent-
age of the current salary). Shortly after Ledbetter was decided, op-eds ap-
peared in the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and the Los Angeles
Times, all calling for the decision to be overturned and/or better access to
pay information.
4 Lawmakers scrambled to draft legislation providing that
each paycheck could constitute an act of discrimination, thus extending the
period within which an individual would be able to file her complaint.
Within two weeks of the Supreme Court’s decision, Lilly Ledbetter was testi-
fying before the House Education and Labor Committee on the proposed
legislation.
5
