Obama signs Equal Pay Legislation

On Thursday January 29, 2009 President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. This law was named for Ms. Ledbetter, an Alabama resident who at the end of a nineteen year career at a tire factory found out she had been paid less than her men colleagues. President Obama said we are upholding one of our countries principles that we are created equal and should have our own chance at achieving our happiness by signing this bill, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/us/politics/30ledbetter-web.html.

When Ms. Ledbetter was entering her retirement after nineteen years she found out her male colleagues were being paid more than her. A jury found her employer, Good Year Tire and Rubber Company, guilty of pay discrimination but the Supreme Court threw the case out saying she should have filed within 180 days of her last pay when she found out she was being paid less. Ms. Ledbetter will never be repaid what she is owed from Good Year but she has conquered victory for all the women in the U.S. today who are being under paid for the same labor put in as men.

This just shows how far our country has come in regards to women's rights. Compared to other countries the U.S. is a great democracy in that women have the right to stand before their bosses, a judge, even the president for that matter, and speak her voice and not stand for injustices. The guilty verdict for Good Year shows that there are companies out there that have a respected name but you don't know for sure what goes on inside the closed office doors. Everyone needs to keep their eyes and ears open and stand their ground when they think they are being treated unfairly in the workplace.