Dear Friend, The Supreme Court recently dealt a huge blow to civil rights protections by making it nearly impossible for employees to challenge pay discrimination. More than forty years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 -- which was supposed to help level the playing field in the workplace -- Black men still make 75 cents for every dollar that White men make, and Black women make only 68 cents. One of the reasons the gap persists is discriminatory pay.
Now, Congress is considering the Fair Pay Restoration Act, which would reinstate the long-standing wage-discrimination protections just gutted by the Supreme Court. The bill passed the House along party lines, but is stalled in the Senate. I've signed on with ColorofChange.org to tell my Senator to support it. Will you join us? http://www.colorofchange.org/fairpay/?id=2224-512869 Under the Civil Rights Act, employees must challenge an act of discrimination within 180 days. Until now, courts had treated each discriminatory paycheck as a discriminatory act. But late last year, in Ledbetter v. Goodyear, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that only the initial decision to pay an employee less can be considered, meaning they'd have to file suit within 180 days of being hired at discriminatory wages or being given a discriminatory raise. Most employees don't discover they are being discriminated against for much longer than that -- discussing wages with co-workers is illegal in some states, and many employers have strict policies against it. The decision also creates an incentive for employers to hide discrimination, knowing that if they get away with it for 180 days, they can never be held accountable. The Fair Pay Restoration Act would correct the Supreme Court's decision by clarifying that each new discriminatory paycheck constitutes a discriminatory act. We shouldn't have to pass legislation just to keep our civil rights protections real and effective, as Congress originally intended them. But unfortunately, we do. I've joined with ColorofChange.org to tell my senator to support the Fair Pay Restoration Act, can you take a few moments and do the same? http://www.colorofchange.org/fairpay/?id=2224-512869 Thanks.
