Woman Takes Alleged Goodyear Pay Bias to US Congress

A woman at the centre of a controversial pay discrimination case against Goodyear in the US said she plans to testify before the nation’s Congress in a bid to change a law that the Supreme Court used to deny her claim. Lilly Ledbetter, a former Goodyear supervisor from Jacksonville, Alabama, will travel to Washington in mid-June to testify before the House Education & Labor Committee.

As previously reported by T&A, the Supreme Court ruled Ledbetter lacked the grounds to sue the tyremaker for pay discrimination because she did not file her case within 180 days of the initial infraction taking place. In spite of this, since the court’s ruling House of Representatives member Artur Davis, a Democrat from Alabama, has championed Ledbetter’s cause, even appearing alongside her at a news conference in early June. Davis has also announced his intention to introduce a bill changing federal laws that govern discriminatory pay practices.

“This case potentially affects women and minorities who suffer unfair treatment in terms of pay,” said Davis. He further commented the Supreme Court’s decision reverses previous interpretations of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that state plaintiffs are permitted to file a case within 180 days of receiving the last pay cheque they dispute as unjust.