House Labor Committee to Hear Discrimination Plaintiff June 12
Next Tuesday, June 12, will be a busy day for the U.S. House of Representatives' Education and Labor Committee. The big event of the day is a 1:30 p.m. Eastern hearing when the full committee will hear testimony from Lilly Ledbetter, the plaintiff who lost her pay discrimination case on May 29 in a close 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The committee's chair, Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., immediately criticized the decision and asked for congressional action to reverse it. Ledbetter had sued Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., alleging she was paid less than male counterparts for years, but the high court ruled she had to have filed her action soon after the start of the alleged discrimination rather than years later. This decision will shut the courthouse doors to victims of workplace discrimination who never know about it until it has been happening for years, Miller says.
The day's other action will be a 10 a.m. Eastern hearing by the committee's Workforce Protections Subcommittee. The topic is "Balancing Work and Family: What Policies Best Support American Families?" For more information about the committee, visit http://edlabor.house.gov/.