Congress has given final approval to a civil rights bill providing women, blacks and Hispanics with powerful new tools to challenge pay discrimination in the workplace. It is likely to be the first significant legislation signed by President Obama.
The 250-to-177 vote in the House came five days after the Senate passed the bill, 61 to 36.
The bill, named for Lilly M. Ledbetter, a longtime supervisor at a Goodyear tire plant in Alabama, would make it easier for workers to win lawsuits claiming pay discrimination based on sex, race, religion, national origin, age or disability. Under the new law, the statute of limitations would be redefined, making clear that each new paycheck is a violation of the law if it results “in whole or in part” from a discriminatory pay decision made in the past.
Ledbetter became a champion of women’s rights and an outspoken supporter of Mr. Obama after the Supreme Court, in a 5-to-4 decision in 2007, rejected her lawsuit against Goodyear. A jury had found that the company paid Ms. Ledbetter less than male supervisors, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Supreme Court did not deny that she had suffered discrimination, but said she should have filed her claim within 180 days of “the alleged unlawful employment practice” — the initial decision to pay her less than men. Despite the wide publicity given the case, the Bush administration and the GOP congress failed to act on the matter.
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