Lily Ledbetter spoke at the Democratic National Convention last night. You’ll recall that she was the unfortunate victim of a rather stupid Supreme Court ruling, which said that if there’s female-male pay disparity in the workplace, you must submit a claim within a certain number of days or the disparity doesn’t matter.
“My job demanded a lot, and I gave it 100 percent,” Ledbetter told the convention. “I kept up with every one of my male co-workers.” The salary differentials, she said, “affected my family’s quality of life then, and they affect my retirement now.” She noted that in dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the ruling made no sense in the real world. “She was right.” In response to the ruling the House of Representatives passed a bill that would change Title VII to ensure that claims like hers would be valid, but in the Senate, Republicans have prevented a vote.
“We can’t afford more of the same votes that deny women their equal rights,” Ledbetter said, asserting that “equal pay for equal work is a fundamental American principle.”
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