Press & News

Jerry Maatman Quoted in Business Insurance Article
09/27/2006

Jerry Maatman was quoted in the September 25 Business Insurance article (Supreme Court to rule on key damages issue: Gender bias case also on the docket”) noting the two risk-management cases the Court agreed to review before its final pre-term issue of orders. The gender bias case, Lily Ledbetter vs. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co, deals with an illegal pay discrimination action brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and brings into question whether, and if so “under what circumstances, a plaintiff may bring such an action when the allegedly disparate pay was received within the statutory 180-day limitation period but resulted from allegedly discriminatory decisions that happened earlier.”

Ledbetter, a woman who worked at a Goodyear plant in Gadsden, Ala., for nearly 20 years, sued Goodyear, claiming it paid her less than her male counterparts because of her gender. Goodyear reviewed her salary annually and held that Ledbetter's case depended on whether she could prove that unlawful discrimination impacted an annual salary review within 180 days of her filing her discrimination charge. A jury, however, took into account 19 years of Ledbetter's salary history before ruling in her favor. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court in August 2005, holding that "all we need to do is examine the last salary decision Goodyear made that affected Ledbetter's pay during the limitations period." Legal experts say that employers are concerned that the high court could expand their exposures.

"The Ledbetter case could turn out to be a big-impact ruling," said Gerald Maatman, a partner at Seyfarth Shaw L.L.P. in Chicago. "While its focus is on the application of Title VII's statute of limitations and the extent to which workers can reach back and challenge pay practices decisions outside the limitations period, the Supreme Court's disposition of the case is apt to ripple across current class-action litigation," Mr. Maatman said. "The scope of liability periods and examination of historical pay practices are at the center of most big Title VII class actions, and the stakes are high with plaintiffs looking to broaden the actionable pay practice liability and defendants hoping to close and narrow the liability window. The Ledbetter case will be watched closely on account of its potential impact on class actions," he said.