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News Releases
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January 9, 2009
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PRICE VOTES FOR EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK
House Bills Seek to End Pay Discrimination Based on Gender |
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Washington, D.C. - Congressman David Price (D-NC) today voted with the majority of his House colleagues to seek an end to pay discrimination in the workplace based on gender. The North Carolina Democrat voted in favor of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (H.R. 11) and the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 12), both of which passed the House and will now move to the Senate for consideration.
“Women deserve equal pay for equal work,” Price said, “and these two measures will make it easier for women who face discrimination to seek justice and restitution through the courts.”
Although women’s wages and educational attainment have been rising over recent decades, research shows that pay discrimination continues to result in lower earnings for women than their male counterparts performing the exact same job. In 2005, women earned only about 77 percent as much as men did. According to the National Committee on Pay Equity, working women stand to lose $250,000 over the course of their careers because of unequal pay practices.
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act seeks to reverse the impact of a June 2007 Supreme Court ruling that held that the plaintiff, Lilly Ledbetter, could not sue her employer for pay discrimination because she learned of the violation too long after the fact. The Court ruled that each paycheck did not constitute a new act of discrimination and, therefore, Ms. Ledbetter had not claimed discrimination in a timely manner – within 180 days of her first paycheck. The bill would clarify that the timeframe for suing employers for pay discrimination begins each time a paycheck is issued, and does not solely apply to the original act of discrimination.
The Paycheck Fairness Act would improve enforcement of the Equal Pay Act by providing more effective remedies to women who are not being paid equal wages for doing equal work, including increased penalties for violators and increased opportunities for training for women and girls.
“These two bills will help address a simple matter of fairness in our society, and I’m pleased that we have chosen to take on this important issue as one of the first acts of the new Congress.”
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U.S. House of Representatives
2162 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202.225.1784
Fax: 202.225.2014 |
411 W. Chapel Hill Street
NC Mutual Building, 9th Floor
Durham, NC 27701
Phone: 919.688.3004
Fax: 919.688.0940 |
5400 Trinity Road
Suite 205
Raleigh, NC 27607
Phone: 919.859.5999
Fax: 919.859.5998 |
88 Vilcom Center
Suite 140
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Phone: 919.967.7924
Fax: 919.967.8324 |
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