Federal Defense Attorney John Teakell

In light of recent economic downfalls, President Obama took the first step in ensuring that America’s economy works for both men and women workers when he signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law today, reports the AP. As his first piece of legislation since becoming president, the equal-pay measure will now allow expanded statutes of limitations when filing U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claims against employers for gender-based pay discrimination.

The new law is named after a now-retired Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. area manager who first filed an EEOC complaint against her employer in 1998. At that time, Ledbetter was anonymously informed that she was being paid at a lower rate than men within the company holding her same position.

According to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, no employer may discriminate against any employee on the basis of gender, race, nationality or religion. Ledbetter’s complaint was answered with notification that she had grounds to sue under the act, and in 2003 won a jury verdict in a U.S. district court against the company.

Goodyear appealed the decision, and two years after the original filing the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed that Ledbetter was much too late to file suit against them. Later, the case was heard by the Supreme Court and the reversed decision was upheld by a slim 5-4 vote.

Later that same year, the House passed the legislation that was blocked by the White House. Since the beginning of the new administration and Democratic majority in Congress, the Ledbetter bill became a top priority this session.

The bill passed the House in early January, but included additional pay equity language. Last week, the Senate approved the legislation, but without the additional measures, which effectively required the House to vote once again on the bare-bones version.

Opponents of the bill argued that it would cause a dramatic increase in needless lawsuits against employers, but counter debates pointed out that the congressional budget analysts saw no reason this would be the case.

Under the new law, employees may file suit within six months after an alleged discriminatory paycheck is issued to them. In addition, each paycheck will be considered a new act of discrimination, and employer liabilities are restricted to two years of back pay.

These measures directly counter the high court’s finding in Ledbetter’s original case that these complaints may only be brought against a company within 180 days of the beginning of the discriminating events. Under the new rules, an employee may sue for each paycheck received if it is considered discriminatory any time within that 180-day period.

Potential claimants may file suit citing the new law immediately, though the burden of proof will still lie with the plaintiff. This means that if the employee can not produce evidence proving discrimination due to lost records (or some other reason), there may not be much hope for winning the case.

Lilly Ledbetter’s case became a presidential campaign tool for Obama, and she was present at the bill’s signing today. President Obama noted that the signing was not only in honor of Ledbetter, but of his grandmother and daughters as well, in pursuit of one of America’s first principles: “that we are all created equal and each deserve a chance to pursue our own version of happiness.”