Lily Ledbetter

1 of 3 DOCUMENTS

LILLY M. LEDBETTER, Petitioner v. THE GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY, INC.

No. 05-1074

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

550 U.S. 618; 127 S. Ct. 2162; 167 L. Ed. 2d 982; 2007 U.S. LEXIS 6295; 75 U.S.L.W. 4359; 100 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1025; 89 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) P42,827; 20 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 295

November 27, 2006, Argued

May 29, 2007, Decided

PRIOR HISTORY:

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT.

Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc., 421 F.3d 1169, 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 18026 (11th Cir. Ala., 2005)

DISPOSITION: The judgment of the Eleventh Circuit was affirmed.

CASE SUMMARY:

PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Plaintiff retired employee brought a pay discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C.S. ß 2000e et seq., against defendant, her former employer. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed a jury award in favor of the employee finding that her claims were time barred. The employee's petition for a writ of certiorari was granted on the question of the proper application of the limitations period.

OVERVIEW: The employee introduced evidence that during the course of her employment several supervisors had given her poor evaluations because of her sex, that as a result of these evaluations her pay was not increased as much as it would have been if she had been evaluated fairly, and that these past pay decisions continued to affect the amount of her pay throughout her employment. Her arguments that her paychecks and a raise denial each violated Title VII and triggered a new charging period could not be reconciled with caselaw. The on-going effects alone could not breathe life into prior, uncharged discrimination. The employee's attempt to take the intent associated with prior pay decisions and shift it to the later pay decision was unsound. The Court rejected the argument that it adopt a special...