She defended Lilly Ledbetter's right to sue her employer, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Inc. For pay discrimination on the basis of sex, giving a not-so-gentle reminder of the realities of the American workplace." (Steiger, 2007) Specifically written by Justice Ginsburg is that as follows:
worker knows immediately if she is denied a promotion or transfer, if she is fired or refused employment. And promotions, transfers, hirings, and firings are generally public events, known to co-workers. When an employer makes a decision of such open and definitive character, an employee can immediately seek out an explanation and evaluate it for pretext. Compensation disparities, in contrast, are often hidden from sight." (Steiger, 2007)
Steiger reports that the EEOC has a backlog of cases and with the ruling in the Ledbetter case it was predicted that the backlog was likely to increase. Steiger states "The Ledbetter ruling places greater importance on the EEOC mediation, so an employee with a complaint must file with the EEOC within the given time period to give legitimacy to any lawsuit that may follow if the EEOC cannot resolve the compliant. The Ledbetter ruling has created a "protection plan for employers," Henderson said, because the burden of proof already lies with the employee filing the charge, and creating a limited time period gives employers an incentive to withhold the information until the filing period has expired." (2007)
II. SEX DISCRIMINATION ACT
The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 makes it illegal for an employer to discriminate against an individual in the workplace upon the basis of that individual's gender in regards to job selection, training, promotion, work practices, dismissal or any other effective disadvantage in the workplace such as sexual harassment. This Act additionally makes it illegal to discriminate against an individual upon the basis of their gender in the areas of education as well as the supply of goods and services.
This Act is applicable to men and women alike and also addresses discrimination upon the basis of marital status. There is no qualifying period of employment for the individual to be covered by law under this act and each employee is covered by this Act immediately upon being hired for a job. In fact this act covers the individual from the moment they are hired and throughout their employment and in some cases covers the references provided by a former employer following termination of employment and not only covers employees but workers, agency workers and in some instances covers those who are self-employed.
In the work entitled: "Incidence of Employment Discrimination: Is Perception Reality" the findings of a recent Gallup Poll are stated to include the findings as follows:
1) While the overall discrimination rate is 15%, it varies considerably by race and gender. Women are more than twice as likely to report that they have been discriminated against in the past year (22%) as are men (9%);
2) Asians and blacks are most likely to report experiences of discrimination (31% and 26%, respectively), while 18% of Hispanics and 12% of whites also report such incidents;
3) the difference in discrimination among men and women is primarily among whites, with only 3% of white men, compared with 22% of white women, reporting such experiences;
4) Black men and women report similar rates -- 26% and 27%, respectively. 20% of Hispanic men and 15% of Hispanic women report incidents of discrimination; and 5) the two types of discrimination most frequently cited are gender (26%) and race/ethnicity (23%). In addition, 17% mentioned age discrimination, 9% cited disability, 4% sexual orientation, and 4% religion. (Lenard, 2009)
III. GENDER EQUALITY and the ROLE of LAW
The work of Nakakubo (2003) entitled: "Gender Equality and the Role of Law" states that the "question of equality for men and women in the workplace is relatively new in the area of labor law. It was not until the 1970s that it became a topic of serious discussion. Even before World War II the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention's consideration of women was mainly as a target of protective (rather than gender-based quality) measures such as maternity leave and prohibition of women's working in mines or at night." (2003)
Nakakubo states that following the war in 1951 that "Convention No. 100 concerning equal wages for men and women was adopted, but the ILO did not necessarily progress in its handling of the equality issue. On the contrary, apparently due to the ILO inclination toward the traditional labor law, pressure...
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