Reversal of Injustice

Newly minted President Barack Obama signed his first bill into law on thursday, approving an equal pay legislation act that he said will, "send a message that making our economy work means making sure it works for everybody."

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act singed by the president effectively cancels the Supreme Court ruling last year that declared plaintiffs had to file wage claims within 180 days of a company's decision to pay a worker less than a counterpart doing the same work.

The person whose name appears on the bill, Lilly Ledbetter, was a worker at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber plant in Gadsden, Ala., discovered when she was nearing retirement that her male counterparts were earning more than she was.

"I'm so excited I can barely stand it," She said after the bill passed the Senate.

Last year a jury found her employer guilty of pay discrimination, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In a May 29, 2007 decision the Supreme Court threw out the case, ruling 5-4 against Ms. Ledbetter. The Supreme Court ruled that she was obligated to file her suit within 180 days of the date that she was first paid by Goodyear Tire and Rubber.

The Ledbetter legislation is aimed at expanding workers rights to sue in this kind of case restarting the six-month clock every time the worker receives a paycheck.

Ms. Ledbetter will not see any money as a result of the legislation that President Obama singed into law today.