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Ledbetter v. Goodyear brief for petitioner
September 07, 2006 by Ross Runkel at LawMemo
The petitioner's brief was filed in the US Supreme Court today in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber.
The issue is "Whether and under what circumstances a plaintiff may bring an action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 alleging illegal pay discrimination when the disparate pay is received during the statutory limitations period, but is the result of intentionally discriminatory pay decisions that occurred outside the limitations period."
Petitioner's Brief
Joint Appendix
Ledbetter claimed her employer paid her a smaller salary than it paid male co-workers because of her sex. Her periodic paychecks were based on annual salary reviews. A jury awarded damages to Ledbetter based on a series of salary decisions going back 19 years. The 11th Circuit reversed and ordered that Ledbetter's complaint be dismissed.
The 11th Circuit held that her claim was time barred because she could not prove intentional discrimination in either (1) the one decision during the limitations period or (2) the last decision preceding the limitation period.
The 11th Circuit said: "We conclude that in the search for an improperly motivated, affirmative decision directly affecting an employee's pay, the employee may reach outside the limitations period created by her EEOC charge no further than the last such decision immediately preceding the start of the limitations period. We do not hold that an employee may reach back even that far; what we hold is that she may reach no further.
The US Supreme Court will review the 11th Circuit decision during its 2006 Term which begins in October.
Thanks to SCOTUSblog for the brief.
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