Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Signed Into Law by President Obama

Employment Law Update

On January 29, 2009, President Obama signed into law the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The bill expressly overturns the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc. 550 U.S. 618 (2007). The effect for employers is that employees may bring federal claims for discriminatory pay differences years after the decisions that created those pay differences were made, so long as a claim is filed with the EEOC within 180 days (300 in some states) of the receipt of any compensation that is affected by those past decisions.