Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that employees who complain of pay discrimination under Title VII, the federal antibias law, must file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 180 days of the discriminatory pay-setting decision, rather than within 180 days of the employee’s last paycheck. This decision was good news for employers, but it could be short-lived.
Plans are underway in Congress to amend Title VII to provide that the time clock for filing a charge is reset with each payment of a discriminatory wage. The legislation will be sponsored by Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY). And Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), George Miller (D-CA) and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) plan to introduce companion legislation in the House of Representatives.
We’ll keep you posted.
Join us this fall in San Francisco for the California Employment Law Update conference, a 3-day event that will teach you everything you need to know about new laws and regulations, and your compliance obligations, for the year ahead—it’s one-stop shopping at its best.
Additional Resources:
Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., U.S. Supreme Court No. 05-1074, 2007
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Pay Discrimination information