Workplace Alert - May 29, 2007 On May 29, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. holding that a pay rate or pay raise decision is a discrete act which must be challenged within 180 (or 300) days and that a subsequent paycheck does not constitute a legally protected action but is merely the effect of a prior discriminatory action.

The dissent argued that it is almost impossible for an employee to know that such pay changes are possibly discriminatory and that each new pay check should be considered for purposes of the statute of limitations.

This may be the kind of decision which get congressional attention as did the series of discrimination decisions in the late 1980’s which resulted in the Civil Rights Act of 1991. At least the dissent seems to invite such a response.

Report for the President on Federal ADR, April 2007

The Report for the President on the Use and Results of Alternative Dispute
Resolution in the Executive Branch of the Federal Government, released April
2007, details and evaluates the federal government's use of ADR techniques. The pdf file can be downloaded here. It is a large 191 page document and may take some time to download. click here to download the file or go to http://adr.gov/pdf/iadrsc_press_report_final.pdf.