Editorial: One giant step back

Friday, June 1, 2007 | 6:52 a.m.

A d ivided U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week that workers may not sue their employers for pay discrimination if the alleged inequality has been going on for more than 180 days.

In a 5-4 ruling that placed conservative justices on the side of employers and the panel's more liberal members on the side of workers, the court ruled that Lilly Ledbetter, the only female supervisor at an Alabama tire plant, did not file her lawsuit in time under the requirements of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Ledbetter had sued Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., claiming that after 19 years on the job she was still earning $6,000 a year less than the lowest-paid man doing the same work.

The 1964 law designates a 180-day timetable but was not clear as to when that period was to begin. In its ruling Tuesday, the Supreme Court said that the 180-day period was to start with the issuance of the first paycheck that is believed to be unequal. The high court found that Ledbetter had waited too long to file her claim under the law's Title VII, which addresses discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion or national origin.

But Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, speaking on behalf of herself and the three other dissenting justices, said that the court "does not comprehend, or is indifferent to, the insidious way in which women can be the victims of pay discrimination." Although Ginsberg did not mention specifically how the court's Tuesday ruling could affect protected classes other than women, she did cite previous case law regarding racial discrimination and Title VII's other protected groups. Ginsberg called on Congress to rework the law and establish a timetable that is more realistic.

It is unlikely that a woman or other workplace minority would, within the first six months on the job, be able to determine that pay inequalities exist. Information on colleagues' pay is not readily available, and new employees are not likely to raise issues of discrimination so early on. Several employees may have to be hired over a number of years to establish a pattern of pay inequality.

It is troubling that the United States is still struggling with the issue of equal pay for equal work. Congress should take Ginsberg's advice and rework the law so that it is balanced in its protections of employers and workers.