07/30/2007
Legislation would effectively eliminate the statute of limitations for discrimination claims
CONTACT: Melissa Sharp, 202-314-2068
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The U.S. House plans to vote on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007, H.R. 2831, today, just two months after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision on Lilly Ledbetter's discrimination case. The National Federation of Independent Business, the nation's leading small-business advocacy group, strongly opposes this legislation and considers the vote on H.R. 2831 to be an official "Key Vote" for small-business owners.
H.R. 2831 amends Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act to create a new paycheck rule, dissolving any statute of limitation for an employee filing a compensation discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. This erroneous legislation takes retroactive action to purportedly overturn a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.
"No one should be misled into thinking H.R. 2831 is merely a reversal of the Ledbetter decision," said Dan Danner, executive vice president of NFIB. "H.R. 2831 goes well beyond the issues raised in the Supreme Court's Ledbetter decision and is instead a dangerous expansion of the current federal discrimination laws. For example the legislation contains a pension annuity check rule that would allow charges that should be filed promptly during employment to be filed at any time so long as the employee is receiving retirement benefits. Congress should not be considering legislation that would create disincentives for small employers to offer their employees retirement benefits."
The current filing requirements encourage employees and employers to address discrimination allegations right away in order to mitigate workplace discrimination. By adopting a paycheck rule, H.R. 2831 removes the incentive for an employee to act immediately if they suspect discrimination and will allow claims of discrimination to be based off of an employment decision made in the distant past.
"Instead of encouraging employees to address allegations of discrimination, H.R. 2831 would allow employees to wait to file a discrimination claim until the supervisor who made the decision is no longer available to testify and defend their decision," said Danner. "Employers deserve the opportunity to defend an employment decision in a timely manner so that they can address the allegation and move on with running and growing their business."
