Simple English definitions for legal terms
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The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 is a law that helps people who believe they are being paid unfairly because of their gender. It was named after a woman named Lilly Ledbetter who sued her employer for paying her less than her male coworkers. The law makes it easier for people to sue their employers for pay discrimination by giving them more time to file a complaint. Before this law, people only had 180 days to file a complaint, but now they can file a complaint each time they receive a paycheck. This law was passed in 2009 to change a previous Supreme Court decision that made it harder for people to sue for pay discrimination.
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 is a law that helps people who have experienced sex-based pay discrimination. It is named after Lilly Ledbetter, who sued her employer, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc., for paying her less than her male colleagues. The law makes it easier for people to sue their employers for pay discrimination by extending the time limit for filing a complaint.
Before the law was passed, people had to file a complaint within 180 days of the first instance of pay discrimination. This was a problem for people like Lilly Ledbetter, who did not realize she was being paid less than her male colleagues until many years later. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 changed this by resetting the 180-day time limit each time a person receives a paycheck that is discriminatory.
For example, let's say that a woman named Sarah works for a company and discovers that she is being paid less than her male colleagues for doing the same job. She files a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) within 180 days of receiving her first discriminatory paycheck. However, the EEOC takes a long time to investigate her complaint, and it is not resolved until two years later. During that time, Sarah continues to receive discriminatory paychecks. Under the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, Sarah can still file a complaint about those paychecks, even though more than 180 days have passed since she received her first discriminatory paycheck.
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 is an important law because it helps to ensure that people are paid fairly for their work, regardless of their gender. It also sends a message that pay discrimination is not acceptable and that people have the right to fight back against it.