Professors Joanna Grossman of Hofstra University and Deborah Brake of University of Pittsburgh authored an amicus brief for a number of women’s groups in Ledbetter v. Goodyear, so they are obviously pleased with the pending Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would reverse the Supreme Court’s decision in that case. In two recent articles, Professors Grossman and Brake make other suggestions for changing U.S. employment discrimination laws.

In recently published an article on FindLaw entitled Reviving Title VII's Protection Against Pay Discrimination In the Wake of the Supreme Court's Harsh Decision: A Call for Congressional Action, Professors Grossman and Brake argue for three “fixes”:

• overturning Ledbetter (which the  Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act would do);
• eliminating the damage caps under Title VII (which the pending Equal Remedies Act would do); and
• lengthening the statute of limitations for filing discrimination claims.

With regard to the limitations period, the Professors write:

Yet, such an extension would alleviate many of the unfair pressures currently placed on discrimination victims. Time, it turns out, is important to the realization of discrimination and the willingness to complain, not to mention more mundane steps like figuring out how to file a complaint, finding a lawyer who will take the case, and so on.

Professors Grossman and Brake address these and other issues in a longer paper entitled, The Failure of Title VII as a Rights-Claiming System , posted August 30, 2007 on Social Science Research Network.

Hat tip: Workplace Prof Blog, Grossman and Brake on Reviving Title VII's Protection Against Pay Discrimination