It has been a year since I testified in front of the House Committee on Education and Labor - which can be viewed on YouTube -  and urged Congress to fix the Supreme Court’s decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber, a decision that severely limited the ability of victims of pay discrimination to successfully sue under Title VII and other anti-discrimination laws -- laws which protect Americans from discrimination based on race, national origin, gender, religion, disability and age.

The Court completely reversed longstanding and well-established precedent. For years, in the context of pay discrimination, courts interpreted Title VII to allow workers to file a claim within 180 days after their last discriminatory paycheck.

But, in Ledbetter, the Supreme Court decided that the clock starts to run when the discriminatory pay-setting decision is made and that workers who are discriminated against only have 180 days from that moment to file a claim.

The Ledbetter decision ignores the reality that most salary information is private, and workers will not be immediately made aware that their employer has decided to pay them less because of their race, gender or other protected status. A 2004 study found that only one in 10 employers have pay openness policies. 

In this work environment, many people find out they were discriminated against for years after the behind-closed-doors decision was made. The Ledbetter decision gives them no recourse.

The House has acted quickly by passing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007 on July 31, 2007, two months after the Supreme Court decision.

As it is nowadays, the Senate has been much slower. In the Senate, the Fair Pay Act is finally expected to come to the floor for a vote next Wednesday.

Though late, it is somewhat appropriate since next Tuesday, the day before the vote, is Equal Pay Day, a day that highlights pay disparities between men and women. It’s time that the Senate acts. 

Ledbetter is really just the latest example of courts narrowing civil rights protections for those average Americans. Over the past decade or so, the courts have limited the civil rights of seniors, narrowed the ability to for people to get lawyer, and weakened labor laws.

Fixing Ledbetter, then, is just the first step. It clarifies Congress' intent. The Senate has an opportunity to do what the House has already done and restore the ability of average Americans to sue if they have been discriminated against. The Senate has an obligation to protect the rights of its most vulnerable citizens.