NCJW Urges Passage of Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

April 17, 2008, Washington, DC -- Marking Equal Pay Day, the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) today urged Congress to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The proposed law would remedy the Supreme Court ruling last year in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company that greatly weakened the ability of women and minorities to prove ongoing pay discrimination in federal court. NCJW President Nancy Ratzan issued the following statement:

"On April 22 we will mark Equal Pay Day -- the day when women's pay catches up with men's wages from the previous year. Women still earn on average only 77 percent of what men earn, and on this day they will have worked three months and three weeks longer than men to earn the same amount of money. This year the Supreme Court made it even harder than before to win a pay discrimination case.

"For more than 40 years, women have been able to file complaints of unequal pay based on ongoing discrimination. But last year, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote overturned decades of precedent. They ruled that a complaint must be filed within six months of the first unequal pay check, whether or not the complainant knew she was paid less than her male counterparts. They told Lilly Ledbetter that her back pay and damages award of $3.3 million for nearly 20 years of lower pay and sexual harassment was invalid under their interpretation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act -- an interpretation that severely narrows the ability of women and minorities to challenge wage discrimination.

"NCJW strongly supports passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. This will win back the rights of women and minorities to contest unlawful discrimination, even when such discrimination has been hidden from them for years.

"We cannot let this decision control women's rights. Without it, employers who can keep discrimination a secret for six months will be home free. This is not what Congress intended in 1964 when they wrote the law that overturned centuries of inequality suffered by women and minorities alike. It cannot be what Congress will permit going forward either."

The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) is a grassroots organization of volunteers and advocates who turn progressive ideals into action. Inspired by Jewish values, NCJW strives for social justice by improving the quality of life for women, children, and families and by safeguarding individual rights and freedoms.

Contact:
Emily Alfano
202 296 2588 x5; emily@ncjwdc.org