Goodyear Loses Women's Vote By Screwing Female Worker

Dear Goodyear - do you think any woman in America will ever voluntarily buy a tire of yours again?

Think again!

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and against Lilly Ledbetter, who retired from an Alabama Goodyear plant and then sued, claiming she earned $6,000 a year less than her lowest-paid male co-worker.

The Civil Rights Act requires employees to sue within six months of discrimination, but Ledbetter said it was too late by the time she had proof of the discrepancy.

In a five-to-four decision, the Supreme Court said she waited too long. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the only woman on the court, disagreed with the decision, who urged Congress to amend the law to correct the court's "parsimonious reading'' of the law.

Ginsburg said Ledbetter faced an impossible choice: sue sooner and likely lose a half-baked case, or wait until the evidence was strong enough to win and then be told it was too late to sue. Siding with Ginsburg were justices Stephen Breyer, David Souter and John Paul Stevens. Workers salute you.

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton said she will author legislation to make clear that workers like Ledbetter could use old evidence of unequal pay to demonstrate they are being discriminated against now.

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Posted by: Martha Retallick at May 31, 2007 11:11 AM

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