It encourages

people to complain about discrimination at the earliest opportunity –

before problems get out of hand.

The EEOC or comparable state agency can investigate and if necessary recommend various remedies.

If that fails to satisfy the Complainant, there is the opportunity for a civil suit in either federal – or state court if the state has a Human Rights Act.

The 180 day limit also gives the accused entity an opportunity to correct offenses without the fear of endlessly re-litigating the same problem – different date.

It allows for “Judicial Economy”.

It was also likely a trade-off when the legislation was enacted to prevent agencies from being swamped and businesses and the government from fighting it too much.

HOWEVER – In Ledbetter’s case, there really is no good excuse for rewarding an organization for being sneaky about discrimination.

It’s akin to medical malpractice when a patient finds out about the clamp left inside, which starts the clock running regardless of when the operation was done.

S.181 Title: A bill to amend title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and to modify the operation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to clarify that a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice that is unlawful under such Acts occurs each time compensation is paid pursuant to the discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, and for other purposes.

You are right to rain on his damn parade because he and his majority buddies in Congress have deftly bamboozled women – yet again. The “Fair Pay Act” in the Ledbetter title was meant to mislead and give the Changeling and his cronies something about which to crow. The real pay equity bill – the Paycheck Fairness Act – was a companion bill to Ledbetter which was introduced in the House by Congresswoman Rosa Delauro and just passed in the House on 1/09/09. If you read the text, you’ll see where the real meat and potatoes for gender pay equity was.

H.R.1338 Title: To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Rep DeLauro, Rosa L. [CT-3] (introduced 3/6/2007) Cosponsors (230)
Related Bills: H.RES.1388, S.766
Latest Major Action: 8/1/2008 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
House Reports: 110-783

When it reached the Senate, Hill became the sponsor of S.766 – same bill. This is the bill that would have made a difference to women because, unlike Ledbetter, it is a gender-specific bill attempting to level the playing field, as it were, between men and women and it would have made it illegal for employers to retaliate against employees who shared pay information among other things. Pat you can read the text of the bill here: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.766:

This bill went to committee where it will likely languish and die because it involves approporiations for training for women and girls that neither party is willing to approve and it holds employers to some pretty strict accountability. But when I read this from Nancy Pelosi on the passage of Ledbetter, I knew she and the rest of the blathering herd had pulled a fast one:

“Q: I was just wondering, Speaker Pelosi, what the next workers’ rights bill that you attempt to take up will be?

Speaker Pelosi. Well, we have paycheck fairness, sponsored by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, which Mr. Miller passed out of his committee, and with the leadership of Mr. Hoyer, on the floor passed and was sent over to the Senate. So we hope that eventually that will become law someday, too, because that’s the obvious next step.” (emphasis mine).

Here’s the link to that entire piece of high drama and bullshit:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20090128/pl_usnw/pelosi___with_passage_of_lilly_ledbetter_fair_pay_act__congress_has_injected_fairness__reason_and_common_sense

So my sisters, don’t celebrate nor congratulate them – they just chose the one they thought could get through in 100 days it seems. After wearing the hell out of Lilly’s story during his campaign, I figured this one would go. Oh and Pat, I do believe Ledbetter is retroactive.

Keep your Bullshit meters finely tuned when dealing with this crew because IMHO, they’re just talking the talk. I’m still waiting fir that change that’s gonna come (Trust me, Obama notwithstanding, Sam Cooke’s doing sommersaults in his grave for the way Obama & Co co-opted his very, real expressions of the need for change!)

Had Sandra Day O’Connor been on the Supreme Court instead of Alito, the Ledbetter ruling would have been 5-4 but this time Ledbetter would have prevailed.

That is why politics matter. A little difference can make a big difference in people’s lives.

And that is why NQ matters — a place to discuss politics and issues because such things matter.

It certainly doesn’t help the argument when you don’t get your facts straight… SENATOR Barbara Mikulski (D-MD).

The Lily Ledbetter Act did not include the Fair Pay Act! The House passed both. The Senate ONLY ONE!

Here’s the NYTimes

After signing the corrective measure, Mr. Obama ought to press Congress to continue the fight for equal pay for equal work by passing a second bill — the Paycheck Fairness Act — that would further strengthen current laws against gender-based wage discrimination. Among other things, this bill, which Mr. Obama co-sponsored while in the Senate, would make stronger remedies available under the existing Equal Pay Act; ensure that courts require employers to show that wage disparities are job-related, not sex-based, and consistent with business needs; and protect employees who discuss salary information from retaliation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/opinion/28wed3.html

Please read the whole article for clairification between the two, the Fair Pay Act and the Lily Ledbetter Act which extends the time allowed to sue for discrimination to 180 days.

Of course Lily opens the door to those who are discriminated against and who can and do take it to court, but PO sponsored the Fair Pay Act in the Senate and it has not yet been passed.

The Times, for some obscure reason, thinks that the Senate with the Democratic Majority who does not need one republican vote to pass anything (unless the Blue Dogs pee all over the fire hydrant) needs to bring republicans on board. NOT if Democrats do the right thing – ALL Democrats!

The Bamboozler-in-Chief does it again! My bad! I fell for it too!

I am hoping that more messages are being sent, though.

In my day job (research and professional ethics), for example, the incidence of mental health professionals sexually exploiting their therapy patients seems to have diminished greatly as ethics codes condemning sexually intimate behavior with patients, research demonstrating the damage done to patients, and the devastating consequences for therapists themselves (divorce, loss of license, etc.) are brought out into the daylight.

I am hoping this bill will be helpful in that regard. But your point remains totally valid. Continuing with my example, the incidence of exploiting clients sexually will never be zero.