Lilly Ledbetter was a manager at Goodyear Tire for 19 years. During her tenure, she suffered pay discrimination constantly receiving smaller salary increases than her male colleagues. Ledbetter sued and the jury sided with her, but the Supreme Court said she should get nothing (5 to 4 ruling) because pay discrimination claims must be made within 180 days after pay is set. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsberg dissented stating that most people don’t know their colleagues’ salaries.
In April, the Fair Pay Act reached the Senate (brought by Senators Edward Kennedy and Arlen Specter) that would change the 180 day time period to file a pay discrimination case. Rather than 180 days from the time pay is set, the 180 day clock would restart with each discriminatory paycheck.
In response to the Fair Pay Act, Senator John McCain stated that what women really need to obtain equal pay is "training and education." Suffice it to say, too many Senators held similar, disillusioned views, and the Fair Pay Act was not passed (it was just 3 votes short).
To help fight for fair pay, MomsRising.org has been collecting resumes from women to send to John McCain to demonstrate that the United States is filled with highly experienced and qualified women who deserve equal pay. Today, women from MomsRising.org delivered 9,000 resumes to Senator John McCain in Washington, D.C. wearing sashes that said "Magnificently Overqualified Mother" and accompanied by television cameras from networks such as CBS and CNN.
Kudos to MomsRising.org for fighting this fight!
Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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