Pay Equity for Women - Lillian Ledbetter Makes History!

In his first legislative act as the 44th President of the United States, President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act on January 29, 2009. After decades of being paid less than men, with women now earning only approximately 78 cents to a male-earned dollar on average, American women can now more easily file suit for equal pay.

Although Lilly Ledbetter cannot benefit from this legislation to reclaim the lost $200,000 in lifetime earnings due to discriminatory pay practices at the Alabama Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, her persistence in getting this legislation passed and signed into law enables women now and in the future to sue their employers for pay equity. Lillian Ledbetter has positively changed the financial future for all American working women and their families. The Fair Pay Act is non-discriminatory, so if a man is not being paid equally, he can also sue for pay equity under this law.

As a woman who experienced both sexual discrimination and harassment (one of my bosses had the nerve to try to kiss me - yuk! and, how dare he!) in her earlier working life, and who earned less than a man for doing the exact same work (I was actually told by my boss it was because the man had to support his family), I commend Lillian Ledbetter for valiantly fighting for passage of this landmark federal legislation.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1874954,00.html

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/equalpayact1.html