(Washington, DC) – Rep. Rush Holt’s (NJ-12) today hailed President Obama’s signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, legislation Holt voted for this week  that reverses a Supreme Court Decision that has prevented women and other workers from pursuing pay discrimination claims. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, on average, women only make 78 cents for every dollar earned by a man.

“It’s heartening that the first legislation President Obama signed into law will help end discrimination in the workplace,” Holt said. “Allowing employers to pay women less for equal work hurts whole families as they struggle to make ends meet in this economy. This bill is about fairness and restoring a basic American principle.”

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act would respond to the Ledbetter v. Goodyear ruling of the Supreme Court, which fundamentally weakened fair pay and employment protections that employees enjoyed for over 40 years since passage of the Civil Rights Act.  The Supreme Court’s ruling in Ledbetter v. Goodyear set a precedent that employees only are entitled to protection from wage discrimination if they can discover that they are being treated unfairly and take legal action to correct it within 180 days. The legislation would clarify that every paycheck or other compensation resulting from an earlier discriminatory pay decision constitutes a violation of the Civil Rights Act.

More information about the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act can be found here.

###