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Court Still Behind The Times

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 4, 2008

Two Supreme Court rulings called for protecting employees who report discrimination ("Court Strengthens Work Bias Rules," Nation/World, May 28). This article said this decision is part of a trend of the court siding with workers this term. But this represents exceptions to this court's rulings. Usually, the court ignores workers' realities.

Last year, in Ledbetter vs. Goodyear Tire & Rubber, the court ruled that a woman, subject to gender-based pay discrimination for almost 20 years, wasn't entitled to act against her employer.

That ruling - and the Senate's failure to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to overturn it - hasn't helped the women of Florida. Women here working full-time year round in 2006 earned only 82 percent of similarly situated male counterparts earnings - 5 percentage points higher than the national average, but in danger of declining now that it's harder to challenge pay discrimination.

FREDERICK R. O'KEEFE

Tampa

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