A lawsuit brought by a Goodyear worker in Alabama will benefit some of my constituents and countless others across the country.
That was the theme of my remarks below, after receiving the Community Leadership Award last night from Shalom USA, a weekly radio program produced by two Baltimoreans, Jay Bernstein and Larry Cohen.
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Several weeks ago, Jay emailed me, “Could you give a few lines on some of the things you’ve worked on recently of particular interest to the Jewish community?”
I sent him summaries of the legislation that he included in his very kind introduction, but I forgot to mention Lilly Ledbetter.
Who is she?
Lilly Ledbetter was a supervisor at Goodyear Tire and Rubber’s plant in Gadsden, Alabama, from 1979 until her retirement in 1998. She went to court because she was being paid $3,727 per month while her lowest paid male counterpart was receiving $4,286 and the highest, $5,236.
The trial court ruled that she had been discriminated against. The Supreme Court, however, found that she had waited too long. Because she had not filed a claim within 180 days of the first illegal act, she lost her case and could not recover any damages.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg took the unusual step of reading from her dissent in open court. She concluded, “Once again, the ball is in Congress’ court. As in 1991, the Legislature may act to correct this Court’s parsimonious reading of Title VII.”
In Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, an “unlawful employment practice” means discrimination “against any individual with respect to his compensation … because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act amended Title VII to give a day in court for employees like her, who become aware that they have been denied fair pay months or years after the initial discriminatory pay check.
It was the first bill passed by the Congress and signed into law by President Obama. To guarantee that a Maryland court could not interpret our civil rights law to deny someone a day in court, I successfully sponsored our Ledbetter bill.
A Jew who has been denied fair pay will benefit from these laws. So will a member of another minority faith, as well as an individual in one of the law’s other protected categories.
Fortunately, we live in a country that recognizes the ongoing need to protect those who have been historically discriminated against – in the workplace, in the housing market, and in the voting booth.
We don’t always prevail – in the legislature or in the courts. Lilly Ledbetter was not compensated but others will because of her – people in our community and others like us.
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Jay Bernstein and I were thinking along similar lines. In introducing me, he did not limit himself to my legislation of particular interest to the Jewish community.
He concluded by discussing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the law that Lilly Ledbetter changed and Lyndon Johnson was advised he shouldn’t waste his political capital on because he couldn’t pass it.
“What the hell is the presidency for?” Johnson replied.
