Judges Weigh Woman's Wage Bias At Goodyear
November 28, 2006
The Supreme Court heard an appeal Monday by a woman who, at the end of her career, discovered she had suffered wage discrimination for years while working at Goodyear. A decision in her favor could help narrow the persistent gender wage gap.
WASHINGTON (WOMENSENEWS)--Can a victim of wage discrimination sue her employer if she fails to file a complaint to the government within the six-month statute of limitations imposed by the 1964 Civil Rights Act?

What if the victim didn't know she was being discriminated against until after the statute of limitations had expired?

Exactly how long, in other words, does an employee have to complain if she is being paid less for the same work because of her gender?

Those were the questions raised Monday by members of the Supreme Court, who heard the case of Lilly Ledbetter, a former employee at a Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company plant in Alabama who was almost 60 years old, and near retirement, before she found out her employer had for years been paying her substantially less than her male counterparts for the same work.

During the hour-long hearing, justices grilled lawyers on both sides of the case with a smattering of hypothetical questions regarding workplace discrimination, but few revealed clear positions on the nuanced case.

"I thought the justices had serious questions for both sides," said Kevin Russell, who argued the case on Ledbetter's behalf. He said he thought the judges were trying to balance the rights of workers against the rights of employers facing stale complaints.

"There are a number of justices who could be swing votes," Russell told reporters on the court's marble steps after the hearing. "I didn't get a great sense of who those justices would be. This was a quiet bench."

Justices are expected to rule before the end of June 2007, when the current term ends.

Tipped Off by Anonymous Letter
Ledbetter learned of the disparity when she received in 1998 an anonymous letter detailing salaries at the plant. Within a month she filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the government agency charged with resolving workplace discrimination complaints.

Ledbetter then took her case to court. She was awarded $3.5 million to cover punitive damages, back pay and mental anguish. The trial judge reduced that amount to $360,000.

But the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta reversed the ruling, arguing that her complaints were barred by a time limitation under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act saying an individual has 180 days to file a discrimination complaint, a rule made to expedite resolutions and protect companies from facing old, stale charges.

The appeals court barred Ledbetter's suit because the discriminatory acts she complained of took place outside of the 180-day statute of limitations. Even the most recent pay decision prior to the 180-day period was not discriminatory, the court held.

Ledbetter appealed to the Supreme Court, which last June agreed to hear the case.

Supreme Court Debates Pay-Discrimination
MARK SHERMAN

WASHINGTON - Employees must complain about pay discrimination within six months or forfeit their claim, the Supreme Court was told Monday in a case closely watched by companies and civil rights groups.

Justices engaged in a lively, but inconclusive debate over how to apply a 180-day deadline for complaining about discriminatory pay decisions under Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Lilly Ledbetter sued Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., claiming that after 19 years at the company's Gadsden, Ala., plant, she was making $6,000 a year less than the lowest-paid man in the same job.

Ledbetter claimed the disparity existed for years and was primarily a result of her gender. A jury agreed, but an appeals court overturned the verdict.

Lawyers for Goodyear and the Bush administration argued against her claim.

Glen Nager, Goodyear's attorney, said the appeals court was correct. "Bring that claim or lose it," he said.

Justice Department lawyer Irving Gorenstein said that if the court were to side with Ledbetter, "it would undo the statute of limitations in pay cases."

But Ledbetter's lawyer, Kevin Russell, told the justices that each smaller paycheck should be treated as a new act of discrimination.

Eight justices joined in the questioning. Justice Clarence Thomas was, customary for him, silent, but he could play a pivotal role in deciding the case. Thomas once was chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is responsible for investigating workplace discrimination claims.

Applying the 180-day deadline to decisions made years ago makes no sense in a situation in which the disparity grew over time, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said.

Early on, "there is no reason to think there is going to be this inequality," she argued.

But Chief Justice John Roberts was skeptical that employees could "challenge the discrimination 15 years later."

Ledbetter was initially awarded more than $3.8 million. A judge reduced the award to $360,000.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the verdict. The appeals court said Ledbetter mainly was complaining about decisions made by her supervisors long ago, well after the deadline for raising allegations of discrimination.

In Ledbetter's appeal to the Supreme Court, her lawyers said each paycheck represented a violation of civil rights law by Goodyear, even if the lower pay resulted from discriminatory decisions made years earlier.

"Under the court of appeals' rule, an employee is condemned to perpetually unequal pay for equal work unless she recognizes and complains about the discrimination within a few short months after it first begins," Ledbetter's lawyers said in a court filing.

Supporting Ledbetter, the NAACP, AARP and other rights groups said employers would not suffer any consequences for recurring discrimination if they could rebuff allegations merely by arguing the deadline for complaining about the first episode passed.

Goodyear denied discriminating against Ledbetter. She received periodic raises despite being ranked near the bottom of her group of workers, the company said.

"Title VII requires allegedly aggrieved employees like Ledbetter to assert their intentional discrimination claims within the 180-day charge-filing period or lose them," the company told the court.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business said that if the court rules for the worker in this case, employers would be subject to damages for innocent decisions made years ago that would be difficult to defend because of the passage of time.

The case is Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 05-1074.

Rust Belt's Troubles Give Santa Less Work
By Connie Mabin
Friday, November 24, 2006

AKRON, Ohio -- A few steps from Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s hulking headquarters, striking factory workers marked a month off the job in early November by erecting a lopsided Christmas tree.

Red and white bulbs join sparkling gold garland. Instead of a star, a tiny wood block reading "USW L2" -- United Steelworkers Local 2 -- tops this plastic pine. Beneath, there are cardboard headstones with the names of the 16 plants in the United States and Canada that are on strike.

"As I looked at that, I said, 'Oh my God. I hope we're not here until Christmas,' " said Joe Locascio, who says he's made a decent living working for the world's third-largest tire maker for more than three decades. Now he worries about holiday shopping on a striker's budget.

He's not alone. This holiday season, there's plenty of belt-tightening across the Rust Belt, from anxious autoworkers in Detroit to striking tire makers in Ohio. Small-business owners, especially, are feeling the pain.

"Nobody takes this as a paid vacation," said Jeff Berger, who spends some of his time on the Goodyear picket line worrying about gift buying. "A lot of people aren't sleeping lately."

November 22, 2006
Union Striker Arrested on Picket Line

This morning around 9:30 at the Etobicoke branch in Toronto Canada one of the most active union brothers (Picket Line Captain) member of the Local 13571-32 USW was arrested by Toronto Police. He was released one hour later after criminal harassment charges were laid on him by one of the managers of the store 338.

Goodyear Talks Break Off
November 17, 2006
The striking United Steelworkers of America broke off recently restarted talks with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. in Cincinnati today, saying the company is refusing to move from what the union characterizes as a ``cut and gut'' strategy.

No further talks are scheduled, the union said in a statement to its members early this afternoon.

But Goodyear said while its negotiators also will head home this weekend, the company's team will return to Cincinnati on Monday.

No talks have been scheduled ``yet,'' Goodyear spokesman Ed Markey said. ``But we will be there.''

The union and Akron tire maker resumed formal contract negotiations on Tuesday for the first time since 15,000 Steelworkers went on strike Oct. 5.

``The bargaining committee made the decision to leave Cincinnati on Friday,'' the union said.

The union said its bargaining committee ``again rejected proposals aimed at allowing Goodyear to `get out of the retiree health care business,' close a USW plant and drastically reduce pay and benefits for union workers.''

The Steelworkers' ``Solidarity Alert'' said the union was winning the strike, adding that Goodyear was painting itself into a corner with investors and customers ``while using pet analysts to paint a rosy picture of its failed strategy.''

Gadsden Goodyear Strikers To Join Rally
Steelworkers set for Tennessee event
Thursday, November 16, 2006
ROY L. WILLIAMS
News staff writer
A busload of United Steelworkers on strike at the Goodyear plant in Gadsden will travel to Nashville Saturday morning to participate in a protest against the tiremaker.

The bus will leave from the Local 12 union hall at 6:30 a.m. Saturday for what is being billed as a Nationwide Day of Action against Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., said Greg England, rapid response coordinator for United Steelworkers District 9 office in Birmingham.

England said some of the 15,000 Steelworkers who have been on strike at 16 Goodyear plants since Oct. 5 will go to Nashville for the rally, which is sponsored by the USW and the AFL-CIO, an umbrella organization of unions that includes the Steel Workers. The Gadsden plant has 1,250 union members.

The AFL-CIO and USW said the rally aims "to protest Goodyear's assault on the economic security and basic rights of working families and Steelworker members, as well as current and future retirees."

Dennis Battles, president of Local 12 in Gadsden, was in Cincinnati Wednesday with other union leaders trying to hammer out a settlement with Goodyear negotiators and unavailable for comment. The Steelworkers began meeting with Goodyear officials earlier this week after telling the company it was ready to return to the bargaining table.

Goodyear announced plans last month to close its Tyler, Texas, plant to save money as it struggles to compete against low-cost imports. The union wants assurances the company will guarantee retiree health care and job security.

Also this week, the AFL-CIO's executive council voted unanimously to join Steelworker members in calling for a ban against stores selling Goodyear products and to pass out information discrediting Goodyear's actions.

November 13, 2006
Court Orders Limits On Goodyear Strikers

Danville police say they'll be enforcing a court-ordered injunction that puts limits on the striking workers outside the Goodyear plant. The move comes after a brawl last week between picketers and replacement workers led to three arrests.

Authorities say the injunction limits the area where the picketers can gather and park their cars. It was unclear if it also limits how many picketers can be outside the gates to the plant.

Goodyear workers have been on strike since October 5th in a dispute over job and benefits protection.