The National Council of Jewish Women praised legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would reverse a Supreme Court decision limiting employment discrimination suits.
The 225-199 vote on Tuesday was a “major step to undo the damage done by the Supreme Court in Ledbetter v. Goodyear when the court limited the ability of victims of wage discrimination to obtain damages in cases where the discrimination was hidden but longstanding,” the NCJW said in a statement.
The court decision earlier this year read the law as limiting lawsuits to within 18 months of a pay change. Critics said that effectively kills the potential for action because it often takes much longer for a woman or a member of a minority to discover that a white male peer has received a pay hike.
President Bush has said he will veto the bill.
