The House passed a bill Tuesday that extends the time limit placed by the Supreme Court on when employees may bring lawsuits against their employers for discrimination based on pay. The legislation, referred to as the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007, allows employees to bring discrimination suits within 180 days of their last affected paychecks.

The Supreme Court’s May ruling in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. stated that an employee must bring his or her suit under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for payment discrimination within 180 days of a decision involving pay and could not bring such suit if the discrimination occurred outside the statute of limitations, even if the employee received a paycheck within the statutory period. In this case, the district court ruled in favor of Ledbetter, who alleged before she retired from 19 years of employment with the company that she was paid less than her male coworkers because of sex discrimination. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed and held that Ledbetter should have brought her Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint within six months of the alleged discrimination. The Supreme Court affirmed and refused to accept Ledbetter’s claim that each of her paychecks resulted in a violation with a separate six month period within which she could file her claim.

Opponents argue that under the new law, employees can bring employment discrimination claims years after the alleged discrimination takes place.

The bill number is H.R. 2831.

Source: http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/07/us-house-extends-statutory-limits-on.php