The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act has opened the litigation floodgates. Already, federal courts hearing Florida cases are reinstating lawsuits they would have easily dismissed just weeks ago.
Recent case: Sherry Bush and several other black and female corrections officers sued the Orange County Corrections Department, alleging that a decision made 16 years ago violated the Equal Pay Act. They claimed the paychecks they receive today are smaller because of a long-ago decision by their employer to reclassify them from nurses to corrections officers.
The court was ready to toss out the case, but then Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. (Bush, et al., v. Orange County Corrections Department, No. 6:07-CV-588, MD FL, 2009)
Final note: The case was dismissed anyway because the women couldn’t prove they made less than their male counterparts.