The Lilly Ledbetter Act: One Year On - A Conversation with Lilly Ledbetter and Chairman Miller

"Congress was willing to make this affirmation of a fundamental and basic statement, 'You don't get to discriminate against people in their pay, in their work based upon these arbitrary standards of gender or race or ethnicity.'" - Chairman George Miller

One year ago today, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act became the first major act of Congress signed into law by President Barack Obama. Recently Lilly Ledbetter and Congressman George Miller sat down to to discuss Ledbetter’s courageous story and what the Act means for working Americans across the country.
 

The Act clarified that every paycheck or other compensation resulting from an earlier discriminatory pay decision constitutes a violation of the Civil Rights Act and applies to workers who file claims of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, or disability. It reversed a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that made it more difficult for Americans to pursue such claims. For more information, please visit our informational webpage on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

To commemorate today's anniversary, the Democratic Caucus has a blog post with stats about how many American's lives are better because of this law. Lilly Ledbetter wrote a blog post about her thoughts on this occasion and what a difference a year has made.