By: Andrés Oropeza
It seems that in these days, people are willing to go to great lengths to come across a large sum of money even though people like Lily Ledbetter know that they are wrong in doing so. Ledbetter is suing Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. for mistreating her by paying her a small salary because she is a woman.
Lily Ledbetter has been working for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. for nineteen years and after all that time she is suing the company for being paid $6,000 a year less than the lowest-paid man in the same job.
Ledbetter’s case, however, may be dropped because of the Civil Rights act of 1964. The Civil Rights Act claims that employees must complain about pay discrimination with in six months or forfeit their claim. Ledbetter’s lawyer, Kevin Russell, says that each smaller paycheck should be treated as a new act of discrimination. But even the Bush Administration and Lawyer Irving Gorenstein argued against her case saying, “it would undo the statute of limitations in pay cases. “[i]
Also, the reason for her being paid less than the lowest paid man in the same job has nothing to do with her being a woman. Goodyear says, “She received periodic raises despite being ranked near the bottom of her group workers.”[ii] So, Ledbetter is not being paid less because she is a woman but because she is not keeping up with the competition in her field of work. And even then, she still receives raises.
Ledbetter has no reason to ask for more money in her unreasonable lawsuit because there is not concrete evidence proving that she is a victim of prejudice. The Supreme Court should deny her anything just as the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals had because “she is complaining about decisions made by her supervisors long ago, well after the deadline for raising allegations of discrimination.”[iii]
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