By Alston Correll

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., pundits, academics and advocates have reacted swiftly and loudly -- calling for an overhaul of current pay related statutes. Professors Joanna Grossman and Deborah Brake, for example, have called not only for changes in Title VII relating to the statute of limitations on pay discrimination claims, but also for extending the statute of limitations for any Title VII claim to two years and eliminating the caps on damages that can be awarded in Title VII actions.

Congress has responded with a spate of proposed legislation aimed at overhauling significant portions of the FLSA, Title VII and other civil rights statutes. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the Paycheck Fairness Act and the Fair Pay Act of 2007 (Norton Act) are all specifically aimed at curing the perceived deficiencies of existing pay related legislation. In addition, Senator Kennedy has proposed the Equal Remedies Act, which seeks to eliminate all of the damage caps contained in Section 1981a. In short, passage of all or some of this legislation represents a significant change in the nature and litigation of pay discrimination claims.

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On August 1, 2007, Senator Kennedy introduced the "Equal Remedies Act of 2007" (S. 1928), which would eliminate the damages caps under Title VII. The text of the bill is not yet online, but here are the Senator's remarks upon introduction:

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