Total Articles: 2
Federal Litigation of Employment Claims - The Importance of Knowing When the Clock Begins to Run
There are a host of means by which employees can voice claims of discrimination, and employers must be prepared to respond to each method appropriately. Further, no matter how proactive an employer is in implementing new procedures and policies, how thorough its investigative process, and how responsive it is to claims, an employer may find itself named as a defendant in a lawsuit. Litigation of employment related claims presents new challenges and involves unique considerations and decisions. For instance, employers defending a lawsuit filed in state court may, under certain circumstances, remove the case to federal court. There can be various tactical reasons for doing so, including different jury pools and judges, different procedures applied to the discovery process, and even the tactic of taking a plaintiff's counsel out of his or her chosen venue (and perhaps comfort zone). However, while all federal district courts apply the same statutory removal provisions - 28 U.S.C. §§ 1441 and 1446 - federal courts interpret and apply these procedures differently. Thus, it is very important for employers - or at least their legal counsel - to understand these differences so as to not make a mistake and be stuck in the court you do not want to be in. A very recent federal court decision hit home this very point.
President to Sign Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
President Obama is scheduled to sign the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act on January 29, 2009. The House of Representatives approved the legislation, which had previously passed in the Senate, on January 27. The Fair Pay Act, S. 181, alters the deadline or "statute of limitations" for pay discrimination claims brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination Act of 1967, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It also overrules the U. S. Supreme Court's decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Inc., 550 U.S. 618 (2007). Congress believed the Court, in Ledbetter, unduly restricted the time period for bringing pay discrimination claims. The new law will allow employees to bring claims that would have been too stale under the Court's ruling.
