Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007 - HR 2831

[SuzanneWynn]

The House passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2007, HR 2831, today and it was sent to the Senate. This act attempts to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., No. 05-1074 (May 29, 2007). A copy of this act is available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-...831pcs.txt.pdf

President-elect Obama has publicly stated that he will sign this into law if it reaches his desk.

While the bill does not mention ERISA, it does affect prior compensation calculations so it may have an impact on qualified plans. One section of the bill to note is section 2(4), which states that:

"(4) This Act is not intended to change current law treatment of when pension distributions are considered paid."

Not sure what this means when it comes to calculating compensation for qualified plan purposes.

[SuzanneWynn]

President Obama signed this into law today and it became Public Law 111-2. The version which was signed into law is available here - http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/...mp/~c111vMwCO4::.

I was discussing this over lunch today with some other ERISA attorneys. I might be misreading it, but I am concerned with the language added to Section 706(e) of the Civil Rights Act. That language is:

"`(3)(A) For purposes of this section, an unlawful employment practice occurs, with respect to discrimination in compensation in violation of this title, when a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice is adopted, when an individual becomes subject to a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, or when an individual is affected by application of a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, including each time wages, benefits, or other compensation is paid, resulting in whole or in part from such a decision or other practice."

"Affected by application" and "each time wages, benefits, or other compensation is paid" has me a little worried when it comes to plans. I'm wondering if we will start seeing commercials on late night tv looking for plaintiffs for compensation class action cases.