Feingold Works To Protect Workers From Pay Discrimination
Press Release
U.S. Senator Russ Feingold is working to protect workers from pay discrimination by becoming an original cosponsor of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. With Wisconsin women facing a significant pay gap, Feingold is supporting legislation to correct a Supreme Court decision that hinders the fight against pay discrimination. According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, women's salaries were approximately 72 percent of men's salaries in Wisconsin.
"Despite all the gains that women have made in the last decade, women still make only 77 cents on the dollar compared to their male counterparts," Feingold said. "It is hard to believe that this pay disparity continues to exist in the 21st century, and we must work to end it."
Feingold has been a strong supporter of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act since it was introduced in 2007. The legislation is named after Lilly Ledbetter, a courageous woman who brought a landmark pay discrimination case to court. A federal district court ruled in her favor, but in 2007 the Supreme Court ruled that Ms. Ledbetter filed her lawsuit too long after her employer originally began to give her unequal pay. The Court's decision ignores the fact that Ms. Ledbetter, like most American workers, had no way of knowing the salaries of her coworkers, and it took much longer than six months to find out she had been discriminated against. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act re-establishes a reasonable timeframe for filing discrimination claims. It returns the law to where it was before the Court's decision, with a new time limit for filing a pay discrimination claim beginning when each new paycheck is received, rather than when the employer first discriminates.
"In these challenging economic times, the Congress and courts need to do all they can to ensure that the wages of all Americans are protected," Feingold said. "Passing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to correct the Supreme Court's flawed decision is an essential step toward the day when the basic right of American workers to equal pay for equal work will be realized."
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