Originally Posted by
bionicarm
http:///forum/post/2934668
Where are you getting this information about her getting the salary difference during her review, and that she had a poor review? This is what was said in the article:
"I did not learn of the pay discrimination until late in my career," Ledbetter, a former employee with Goodyear Tire and Rubber, said during an interview with CNN. "Someone left me an anonymous note in my mailbox at work showing my pay versus three males. And we four were doing the exact same job."
Ledbetter retired after 19 years working for Goodyear in Gadsden, Alabama. She filed a complaint with the EEOC in March 1998, alleging that men in her plant doing similar work were paid 15 to 40 percent more.
The records backed her up. Ledbetter proved that she was being paid $6,000 less than men doing the same work, including those who were the lowest paid in their job duties.
Ultimately, both the EEOC and a jury ruled in her favor. Ledbetter was awarded $360,000 in back pay.
She got the pay information from an anonymous email. So she sued Goodyear for the money she deserved, what's wrong with that? Also, she just stayed diligent and got a bill passed to overturn the following:
A federal appeals court later threw out her claim, limiting her lawsuit to discrimination that may have happened in the six months prior to her initial complaint with the EEOC. A three-judge panel also dismissed the pay discrimination allegations during that 180-day window.
She's not getting the money she was awarded. She gets nothing except the satisfaction that another person won't get hosed the same way she did.
"Goodyear's lawyers countered with evidence that Ledbetter's poor job performance was to blame.
The company, they argued, took pains to prevent prejudice when handing out raises. In 1982, the Gadsden plant implemented a system that made good raises contingent on good work. Each department manager was tasked with annual evaluations of the employees under his or her supervision.
Based on objective performance measurements and with each employee's input, the managers ranked each worker in relation to the others. The managers would then recommend raises for those who deserved them.
In practice, the record showed, all but the bottom of each year's barrel got raises. Consistently ranked among the worst, Ledbetter was skipped over for raises year after year. She was scheduled for lay-offs three times in 10 years."
http://otd.oyez.org/articles/2007/05...er-co-05292007
As with almost all things in life, the truth is somewhere in the middle. She is not the superwoman the press portrays her as. Nor is Goodyear the evil villian portrayed in this mess. I'm sure they both had dirty hands. She could have worked harder, and they could have given more equitable pay.
Now we have a monster law that would make me think twice about hiring anyone. I am now a proud small business owner, and this makes me want to seel everything and get out of business.
BTW I would not rely on a CNN article for the truth.
