Lilly Ledbetter Takes a Seat in Maine Legislature

I can see the headlines now: "Brawl breaks out in office over pay records." "Worker stabbed in parking lot for being paid too much." "Supervisor assaulted by angry employees over pay disparity."

This also falls under the category of "What were they thinking?"

After Congress passed and the president signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which makes fair pay discrimination cases the only other offense besides first-degree murder to have no statute of limitations, some states moved into action, one being Maine.

There, in the home of Democrat-in-Republican-clothing Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, a Lilly Ledbetter clone named Deborah Simpson, who happens to be a Democratic state senator, introduced a law to enable employees to share their paystub information.

"So, you make $1,250 a week? Who the h--- do you think you are?" he exclaimed while cold-cocking his coworker across the aisle.

"You b----! You mean I've been working here ten years and you six months, and you make that much more than me!" she shreiked while pulling apart her coworker's perfectly coiffed bouffant hair by painful hair.

I may be making those scenarios sound unrealistic because they're too openly spiteful. No doubt the real retaliation would be more subtle, as in the Klingon prescription that "revenge is a dish best served cold."

Unless I'm missing something here, this all seems surreal, but the "Act to Ensure Fair Pay," as it's called, has surprising support in the Maine capital of Augusta.

Representatives from several organizations testified in support of the bill, including those from the Maine Women’s Lobby, the Maine Civil Liberties Union, the WAGE Project, and the Maine State Employees Association. William Peabody, director of the state Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Standards, also voiced support.

Lilly Ledbetter Rides Into Congress

Well, not literally, but the woman whose name is attached to a famous Supreme Court decision did speak at last summer's Democratic National Convention.

Her name is also attached to a bill that, according to the New York Times, is on a Democratic fast track for approval and, no doubt, a signature by Barack Obama once he's in the White House.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act greatly modifies the Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. decision, which held that the statute of limitations on pay discrimination cases runs from the moment the decision is made on the discriminatory pay.

Poor Lilly filed her claim after the statute had run its course, and her lawyers were unsuccessful in arguing that the original decision lives on in each paycheck.

You guessed it. Congress is now legislating that the statute does just that--begins anew each time the discriminated employee receives a paycheck or is affected by the original decision.

Republicans filibustered Lilly out of the Senate last year, but with the Democrats only one vote from foolproof cloture-closing power, she (the law) stands a good chance this year.

Indeed, ending filibusters by the GOP over its cadre of labor-friendly bills, including the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), may be one reason the Dems are now warmly embracing Illinois Senate appointee Roland Burris after denying him a seat yesterday, though they'd certainly never own up to it.

Anyway, employers won't have many options now if they discriminate in pay (i.e., pay different people different wages for performing the exact same work, provided they have the same qualifications and seniority (I assume on these last two provisions, though I'm certainly not a legal expert by any means).

So, Lilly Ledbetter may never have gotten the pay she deserved from Goodyear, but she'll now be the bane of every employer in America, at least those who disciminate in pay.