Professional Documents
Culture Documents
http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2006/2006_05_1074
Like
Case Basics Docket No. 05-1074 Petitioner Lilly M. Ledbetter Respondent The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Inc. Decided By Roberts Court (2006-2009) Opinion 550 U.S. ___ (2007) Granted Monday, June 26, 2006 Argued Monday, November 27, 2006 Decided Tuesday, May 29, 2007 Advocates Kevin K. Russell Glen D. Nager
(argued the cause for Petitioner) (argued the cause for Respondent)
Irving L. Gornstein
No. By a 5-4 vote the Court ruled that Ledbetter's claim was time-barred by Title VII's limitations period. The opinion by Justice Samuel Alito held that "current effects alone cannot breathe life into prior, uncharged discrimination." For a timely claim, Ledbetter would have needed to file within 180 days of a discriminatory salary decision; the Court did not consider it significant that paychecks she received during the 180 days prior to her claim were affected by the past discrimination. Discriminatory intent is a crucial element of a Title VII disparate-treatment claim, the Court held, but each instance of Goodyear's discriminatory intent fell outside the limitations period. The majority noted that the short time limit was enacted to ensure quick resolution of pay discrimination disputes, which can become more difficult to defend against as time passes. To adopt Ledbetter's argument would be to allow even "discriminatory pay decision[s] made 20 years ago" to be the subject of Title VII claims. In dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called the majority's ruling out of tune with the realities of wage
1 of 2
10/6/2011 7:20 PM
Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company | The Oyez Project at II...
http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2006/2006_05_1074
discrimination and "a cramped interpretation of Title VII, incompatible with the statute's broad remedial purpose." She suggested that "the Legislature may act to correct this Court's parsimonious reading of Title VII."
Roberts
Scalia
Kennedy
Thomas
Alito
2 of 2
10/6/2011 7:20 PM