URGENT ACTION REQUESTED
April 16, 2008

Vote Upcoming in U.S. Senate
 Oppose H.R. 2831

Legislation Promotes Frivolous Lawsuits/Trial Lawyer Bonanza

Next week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) are forcing a vote on H.R. 2831, the “Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act” which proponents claim will overturn the Court’s ruling. Unfortunately, H.R. 2831 is significantly broader and would allow individuals with potentially full knowledge of discriminatory acts, both intentional and unintentional, to wait years before filing a claim provided they could point to compensation, retirement benefit, or other benefits received, effectively creating an eternal filing period for claims, regardless of their merit.

To do this, the legislation would establish a “paycheck rule,” wherein each paycheck would be considered a separate discriminatory act if the paycheck is less than it would have been if not for an alleged discriminatory pay decision. The expansive legislation would also allow employees, and potentially their family members, to file claims for discrimination based on paycheck and also pension payments far into the future, even if they were aware of alleged discrimination years earlier and failed to file a charge. This legislation has already been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and a vote on the bill is expected in the U.S. Senate next week!

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP

Contact your senators today Urge your Senators to oppose the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

Call (202) 224-3121. To send an email message to your senators CLICK HERE

MESSAGE

• H.R. 2831 contains numerous provisions that would unfairly and unnecessarily expand employer liability, creating a long-term litigation time bomb.
  
• Prompt filing of discrimination claims allows employers to take proactive steps to address and correct the circumstances surrounding discriminatory activity so that employers and employees can benefit from a genuine equal employment opportunity environment.
  

• H.R. 2831 will increase frivolous litigation and contains numerous pitfalls that will make it more difficult to resolve discrimination claims in a timely manner, an especially troubling proposition given that so few claims filed with the government are found to have merit.
  

• By restarting and expanding the filing period each time an individual receives a paycheck or a pension payment, H.R. 2831 abandons the balanced settlement process set forth in current law and creates a lawsuit bonanza for trial lawyers.