Obama signs equal-pay bill, his first new law

President Barack Obama signed his first bill into law on Thursday, approving equal-pay legislation that he said would “send a clear message that making our economy work means making sure it works for everybody.”  The measure, inspired by a woman's lawsuit, extends workers' rights regarding unequal pay and was a top priority for labor and women's rights groups.

The bill is a response to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that said a person must file a claim of discrimination within 180 days of a company's initial decision to pay a worker less than it pays another worker doing the same job. Under the bill, every new discriminatory paycheck would extend the statute of limitations for another 180 days. According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the measure is "a bold step to move away from that parsimonious interpretation" of the Supreme Court.

The plaintiff in the case, Lilly Ledbetter, said she did not become aware of the pay discrepancy until almost the end of her 19-year career at a Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant in Gadsden, Ala. The Bush White House and Senate Republicans blocked the legislation in the last session of Congress, but Obama strongly supported it and the Democratic-controlled Congress moved it to the top of the agenda for the new session that opened this month. The House passed the measure on a 250-177 vote.

“It is fitting that with the very first bill I sign — the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act — we are upholding one of this nation’s first principles: that we are all created equal and each deserve a chance to pursue our own version of happiness,” the president said.

Obama invited Ledbetter, for whom the bill is named, to accompany him on his train trip to the inauguration ceremony in Washington. After the Senate vote last week, the 70-year-old retiree said Obama "has assured me that he would see me in the White House when they sign the bill."

Supporters argued that the 5-4 Supreme Court decision throwing out Ledbetter's claim was unrealistic for most work environments in which employees are unaware of or even barred from talking about the salaries of their co-workers. They said it rewards companies that manage to keep wage discrimination secret for more than six months.