WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats failed Wednesday to overcome a threatened Republican filibuster of a bill that would loosen the restrictions on the length of time in which workers could file pay discrimination claims against their employers.
The 56-42 vote was split largely along party lines. Six Republicans joined all but one of the Democrats and independents in attempting to block the filibuster, which required 60 votes for success. Two Republicans, including the party's likely presidential nominee, John McCain of Arizona, did not vote.
The legislation, already passed by the House, would circumvent the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision last summer that federal law imposes a tight deadline -- 180 days from the date of the first paycheck received -- for employees to file pay discrimination complaints. The Senate vote means that, for the time being, the court's decision will remain in effect.
"We think that this bill is primarily designed to create a massive amount of new litigation in our country, and I think that is the reason for the resistance to its passage on our side," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said.
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, endorsed by groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union, was brought up this week in honor of Tuesday's Equal Pay Day, established by civil rights advocates to call attention to a wage gap that has women earning on average 77 cents for every dollar earned by men.
Ledbetter sued Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. in Gadsden, Ala., six months before retiring in 1998, after she had found documents showing that she earned as much as 40% less per month than male managers of her same position. She started working for Goodyear in 1979.
A jury awarded her $223,776 in back pay and almost $3.3 million in punitive damages. But Goodyear appealed, arguing that Ledbetter had filed her claim too late, and the appellate court and the Supreme Court concurred.
Even if the bill is eventually approved, President Bush has threatened to veto it, meaning that Democrats would have to gain significantly more crossover support to have a chance of gaining the two-thirds majority for an override. As a result, the bill's support among Democrats is largely symbolic.
In a presidential election year, Democrats see the issue as one in which they have the moral high ground and can argue that they are fighting for working, middle-class Americans. Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, the party's presidential candidates, returned to Washington and voted for the bill.
