Lynn Kappelman and Kristin McGurn Published in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly
"Employment Litigation to Rise Under Ledbetter Act"

Lynn Kappelman and Kristin McGurn's article, "Employment Litigation to Rise Under Ledbetter" was published February 23, 2009 in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. In their article, the authors discuss how the passing of the Lilly Ledbetter Act guarantees a vast increase in litigation against employers for discriminatory compensation practices. The authors note, "As a direct result of this law, we expect the number of compensation-related disparate treatment and disparate impact claims to explode, and long-stale claims will now find their way to suit." The act effectively eliminates the traditional statute of limitations period adopting the "pay-check rule." Lynn and Kristin explain, "Examples of these cases include discriminatory pay claims and challenges to a discriminatory demotion or failure to promote that resulted in a lower salary. Claimants no longer must file these claims within months of the employer's discriminatory decision or its implementation of the challenged compensation practice."

The authors suggest that employers should prepare for an increase in compensation-related litigation especially in this economy where employers are cutting costs in all areas, including payroll. Lynn and Kristin conclude, "Starting now, employers should review current practices for documenting the reasons for their compensation decisions throughout employees’ tenures. Employees responsible for setting compensation should be trained to understand how critical it will be for them to support the reasoning for their compensation decisions, perhaps years after the fact."