Supreme Court Sides with Employers in NLRB Case
In a 5-4 decision today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) cannot decide cases when it consists of just two board members. For more than two years the NLRB operated as a two-person board with three seats unfilled. The two-member board-made up of one Democrat and one Republican-issued nearly 600 decisions. Before today, five federal appeals courts ruled that cases decided by the two-member board were valid.
In March, President Ohama used recess appointments to fill two seats after Republican senators blocked President Obama’s nominees for months.
Several employers objected to the two-person decisions and the Supreme Court agreed to review the issue in a case brought by New Process Steel. Says AFL-CIO General Counsel Lynn Rhinehart:
As has become the norm, workers are once again penalized by corporate stall tactics. By the barest of majorities, five justices rewarded New Process Steel and other corporations who challenged the two-member NLRB decisions as a delay method to avoid respecting workers’ rights.
Workers in these cases now face further delay as the NLRB is forced to sort out and deal with the impact of the court’s decision. The AFL-CIO supported the NLRB’s position in this case and believes the NLRB had the far better argument. We regret that as a result of the court’s decision, workers in these cases will have to wait longer still for justice. Read the rest of this entry »
Bill Introduced to Redress High Court Ruling Penalizing Older Workers
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court took aim at older workers and age discrimination cases with a 5-4 ruling written by Justice Clarence Thomas that forces older workers to jump a higher than previous legal hurdle to prove age discrimination.
Today, the Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination Act was introduced in Congress to restore vital civil rights protections for older workers in the face of the high court’s decision, Gross v. FBL Financial. That case, say lawmakers, rewrote civil rights laws and overturned well-established precedent, making it harder for workers facing age discrimination to enforce their rights.
The bill was introduced by the chairmen of three key congressional committees: Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), House Education and Labor Committee; Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee; and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Senate Judiciary Committee.
Supreme Court Reaffirms Key Voting Rights Provision
In a narrow ruling today, the U.S. Supreme Court preserved a key component of the Voting Rights Act that requires certain states and localities with a history of voting discrimination to submit changes in voting procedures to the Department of Justice or a federal court before they can take effect.
The 8-1ruling keeps in place one of the most important rules that fight voter discrimination. The surpisingly strong majority also deals a setback to conservative groups that have long sought to weaken federal voting rights laws. Clarence Thomas was the only justice to vote to void the voter protection provision.
Sotomayor: ‘Rule of Law Basis for All Our Basic Rights’
Sonia Sotomayor grew up in a South Bronx, N.Y., housing project after her parents moved there from Puerto Rico during World War II. Today, she is a U.S. Senate confirmation vote away from taking a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.
President Obama today nominated the U.S. Court of Appeals judge for the 2nd Circuit to the High Court where, if confirmed, she would be the first Hispanic to serve. Says Obama:
What Sonia will bring to the court…is not only the knowledge and experience acquired over a course of a brilliant legal career, but the wisdom accumulated from an inspiring life’s journey.
Obama Taps Sotomayor for Supreme Court Seat
U.S. appeals court Judge Sonia Sotomayor was nominated this morning by President Obama to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. She would be the first Hispanic to serve on the high court.
She was first nominated to the federal bench in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush and was unopposed when the Senate confirmed her as a U.S. District Court judge. In 1997, President Bill Clinton tapped her to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit. Most Senate Republicans opposed her nomination, and it took more than a year before she was confirmed by a 67-29 vote.
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act One Step Closer to Becoming Law
Last night after the Senate passed (61-36) the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Act, overturning the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that denied justice to Ledbetter—and any worker who suffers pay discrimination—Ledbetter told reporters:
When you win a battle, you’ve sometimes lost battles along the way. We knew we would get here. When right is right, it usually has a way of working out.
Ledbetter thought she had won her battle several years ago when a federal jury found she had been the victim of pay discrimination for nearly 20 years at an Alabama Goodyear tire plant where she was paid less than the men doing the same work.
But the Supreme Court ruled Ledbetter—and other workers—has no right to sue for a remedy in cases of pay discrimination if she—or any worker—waits more than 180 days after the first paycheck, even if she—or any worker—doesn’t discover the pay discrimination until years later, as was the case with Ledbetter.
Fair Pay Hearing Shows Why Pay Discrimination Isn’t OK
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When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in 2007 that Lilly Ledbetter waited too long to file a lawsuit after experiencing 20 years of pay discrimination by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Ledbetter says it sent a “loud and clear” message to Big Business.
With regard to pay discrimination, there are lots of other companies out there that got the Supreme Court’s message loud and clear: They will not be punished for discriminating, if they do it long enough and cover it up well enough.
She testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday at a hearing examining pay discrimination and barriers to equal pay for equal work. Last year, after the court’s decision, the House passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that, in effect, would reverse the ruling. But Senate Republicans, with the support of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), have blocked Senate action.
