Events

Laura Scher of Credo Action calls on Ohio progressives to meet with Sen. George Voinovich (R) at his Cleveland district office at 12:00 noon on Tuesday, May 27th, to call on him to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

Lilly Ledbetter worked 19 years at Goodyear before she learned the men at her level were earning far more. Eventually she sued and Goodyear fought her all the way to the Supreme Court —- where five male justices ruled her claim invalid because the pay disparity resulted from discrimination that occurred more than 180 days before her lawsuit was filed. This ruling gutted the Equal Pay Act, since unlike terminations and other overt employment actions the situation of unfair pay tends to develop slowly and silently.

HR 2831, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, will restore the ability of plaintiffs to seek redress for unfair pay when the unfair pay occurred within the statutory 180 day period, without regard to whether the discriminatory action occurred earlier. This bill passed the U.S. House by 225-199 last July, but Republican prevented it from reaching the floor of the Senate on a 56-42 cloture vote on April 23rd. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Avon) voted to bring the measure to a vote, Sen. George Voinovich (R-Cleveland) voted against.

Laura Scher says that the Lilly Ledbetter bill may come to a vote in the Senate again soon, and asks for your help in pressuring Voinovich to vote for this important social justice legislation. Click here to take action. The meeting at Voinvovich's district office will be at 12:00 noon on Tuesday, May 27th, at 1240 East Ninth Street, Room 3061, in Cleveland.