support fair pay

Dear Friend,

Senate Republicans have done it again.

Yesterday, they blocked a vote on the Fair Pay Restoration Act, an important bill that would protect millions of Americans from pay discrimination based on race, national origin, gender, religion, age, or disability.

This legislation corrects last May's Supreme Court ruling in the Lilly Ledbetter case, which requires victims of pay discrimination to file suit within 180 days of the initial pay-setting decision, or else they cannot be awarded compensation. This requirement is unfair, since workers often do not know how their pay compares to that of their colleagues.

Workers shouldn't have to be mind-readers to protect themselves from discrimination. Those who suffer from pay discrimination shouldn't run out of time to file a claim for back pay simply because the employer initially managed to hide its illegal behavior.

We fell just three votes short yesterday of overcoming the Republicans' filibuster and reforming this unfair system. Help us get past Republicans' obstructionism and hold employers accountable for pay discrimination -- sign the petition supporting the Fair Pay Restoration Act:

http://www.democraticmajority.com/fairpay

This legislation is named for Lilly Ledbetter, a former supervisor at a Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company plant in Gadsden, Alabama. For nearly two decades Ms. Ledbetter worked hard, while putting up with taunting and teasing from her male co-workers.

But during that time Goodyear was using discriminatory evaluations to pay her less than her male colleagues doing the same work. When Ms. Ledbetter finally discovered the discrimination and filed suit, she was awarded full back pay by a jury.

The Supreme Court, however -- in a 5-4 ruling -- reversed the decision and imposed the unfair deadline. This ruling overturned decades of precedent, and it upset our nation's shared sense of what is fair and right.

For years, Lilly Ledbetter had no idea her pay was less than that of her male colleagues because Goodyear kept its salary information confidential. The discrimination continued with every paycheck she received.

Now Republicans are holding up legislation that would protect workers like Lilly Ledbetter by allowing them to file suit up to 180 days after their most recent discriminatory paycheck -- a change that will hold employers accountable for their discriminatory practices and restore fairness to the workplace for millions of Americans.

Please show your support for the Fair Pay Restoration Act:

http://www.democraticmajority.com/fairpay

The Fair Pay Restoration Act uses the language from the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1991, which corrected a similar problem of discrimination in seniority.

It upholds a long tradition of laws dedicated to ending unfair discrimination by employers.

But these laws will be meaningless unless workers can enforce their rights in courts. The Fair Pay Restoration Act will ensure that workers have remedy they deserve when their right to equal pay for equal work is violated by their employer.

Senate Republicans have shown where they stand on this issue -- but they're in the small minority. Women's organizations, civil rights groups, labor unions, disability advocates, religious groups, and businesses all support the Fair Pay Restoration Act.

Join all of us and show your support too:

http://www.democraticmajority.com/fairpay

Sincerely,

Senator Edward M. Kennedy