People For the American Way (PFAW) is urging Congress to approve the Fair Pay Restoration Act to help restore the ability of Americans to recover wages unlawfully denied them due to workplace pay discrimination. Those rights were limited last year when the Supreme Court, under Chief Justice John Roberts, ruled 5-4 against Lilly Ledbetter in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire. She and others will testify on the legislation today before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

You can hear Lilly tell her own story here, in a video PFAW made to support the legislation.

“It’s just basic fairness that men and women should receive the same pay for the same work. Unfortunately, through a tortured interpretation of federal law, the Roberts Court made it easier for companies to discriminate with impunity,” said Judith E. Schaeffer, PFAW Legal Director. “Now it’s up to Congress, as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg suggested in her dissent in this case, to correct the Court’s ‘cramped’ interpretation of Americans’ legal rights.”

Unless the Ledbetter decision is corrected by Congress, many Americans who face pay discrimination based on sex, race, religion, or nationality will have no legal recourse. “The Supreme Court has created unfair and impractical barriers to justice, but in this instance Congress can overcome them,” said Schaeffer. “We urge the Senate to act quickly and pass the Fair Pay Restoration Act.” Similar legislation passed last July in the House of Representatives.

The Ledbetter video, four supplementary videos, and a petition supporting the Fair Pay Restoration Act are available at www.CorrectTheCourt.com. The videos can also be viewed on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/user/PFAWdotorg.