President Bill Clinton appointed Ruth Bader Ginsberg to the Supreme Court of the United States. She was only the second woman to be named to the Supreme Court, following Sandra Day O'Connor, and was the first Jewish woman to serve.
Watch this 4 minute interview with Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
Lilly Ledbetter was born in a house with no running water or electricity in the small town of Possum Trot, Alabama. She knew that she was destined for something more, and in 1979, with two young children at home and over the initial objections of her husband Charles, Lilly applied for her dream job at the Goodyear tire factory. Even though the only women she’d seen there were secretaries in the front offices where she’d submitted her application, she got the job—one of the first women hired at the management level.
Though she faced daily gender prejudice and sexual harassment, Lilly pressed onward, believing that eventually things would change. Until, nineteen years after her first day at Goodyear, Lilly received an anonymous note revealing that she was making thousands less per year than the men in her position. Devastated, she filed a sex discrimination case against Goodyear, which she won—and then heartbreakingly lost on appeal.
Over the next eight years, her case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, where she lost again: the court ruled that she should have filed suit within 180 days of her first unequal paycheck--despite the fact that she had no way of knowing that she was being paid unfairly all those years. In a dramatic moment, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg read her disagreement with the decision from the bench, urging Lilly to fight back.
And fight Lilly did, going all the way to the President. In January 2009, President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act Today, she is a tireless advocate for change, traveling the country to urge women and minorities to claim their civil rights.
http://www.lillyledbetter.com/about.html
http://www.lillyledbetter.com/about.html
Watch this short video on Lily Ledbetter.
Comment on the blog:
Do you think it was fair that Lily was paid less than her male counterparts? Why do you think she WAS paid less?
I do not believe it was fair that Lily was paid less. I mean, I understand anyone being paid less if they were doing less work, but she was not. She was obviously paid less because of the discrimination towards woman.
ReplyDeleteObviously no it was wrong that she was paid less. Although I do think that they could have paid her less because they didn't think she could do the job as well as a man. Goodyear tire factory is generally a man's job and a woman probably wouldn't have as much experience in car parts and stuff.
ReplyDeletei dint think it is fair that her pay was less then the men's pay!! i think she was paid less because of her sex, and her boss probably thought she wasn't doing a good job because of her sex.
ReplyDeleteOf course it is not far that she was not being payed equal pay. I know that the reason she was not being paid equal pay was because she was female I just do not get how someone can look at what she was doing and pay her less because she was a girl.
ReplyDeleteIts absolutely not fair that she was being paid less! The reason she was paid less is because she was a women. I think that there could have been other factors like Jacob said, about her possibly not doing the job as well as a man, but with 16 years of experience, I'm sure that she was just as good or even better at the job then her male counterparts.
ReplyDeleteI think it was extreamly unfair that she was payed less than her male counterparts. She was payed less because she was a woman and people still didn't think that women could do "men's" jobs. That could have been their way of getting back at the law or at the women who believed they had a right. Like most people have said, it was probably mostly because she was a girl and no one thought she could do the job as well because she is a girl.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree that women should be paid less than what they deserve for their work, and I think she was apparently paid less than the others because she was a female and many probably presumed that she didn't do as good of a job as a male would, since men are usually stronger and such. But I don't think that is a good reason to lower her salary. They should pay her the same amount as any other person doing the same job gets paid.
ReplyDeleteI don't agree to be payed lower just because of my gender. Male or female, it depends on how hard you work.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely think that it was unfair that she was paid less just because of her gender. I agree 100% with MG about it, every body should be paid the same no madder the gender. The only reason why she was paid less was because of her gender.
ReplyDeleteI think that if a woman owned a business that she should lower the pay of the male workers. That would be funny!!:)
And then an entire men's movement would occur and things would go crazy again.
DeleteI do not think it is right for her to get paid less. We cannot help what gender we are born as. But, we can help how much effort we can put into our work just like men. They probably thought since she was one of the few women workers that they could slip in a massive difference in pay.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was fair that she was getting paid less, its never fair if someone gets paid less than someone else doing the same work. I think its pretty obvious why she wasn't getting paid... discrimination. Americas worst flaw.
ReplyDeleteOf course it wasn't fair she was getting paid less for doing the same job! She was obviously getting paid less because she was a woman. :( Age old conflict of discrimination. 25% less is a lot! 0.0
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