Congress introduces Equal Employment Opportunity Restoration Act of 2012

One year ago this June, in Wal-Mart v. Dukes, the Supreme Court severely limited workers' rights to combat discrimination. To mark the anniversary of Wal-Mart, the Senate and the House have introduced the Equal Employment Opportunity Restoration Act of 2012 to reverse the damage done by the Supreme Court decision and restore workers' rights to band together in group actions to fight systemic discrimination in the workplace.

In the famous case, the Supreme Court, despite strong evidence of discrimination, dismissed a lawsuit brought by a group of female Wal-Mart employees. The workers argued that Wal-Mart's policy of allowing local managers to decide the pay and promotion of employees, combined with a culture of sex stereotyping, resulted in discrimination against women in pay and promotions. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in her dissent that nationwide, women comprised 70% of Wal-Mart's hourly workers but only 33% of managers. There are even fewer women in higher level and better-paid management jobs.  Women were paid less in every region and the salary gap grew over time - even for men and women hired at the same time for the same job.

On June 20, OWL Intern, Francesca Iannaccone attended a rally marking the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Wal-Mart v. Dukes ruling. Throughout the rally, chants included, "What do we want? Equal pay! When do we want it? Now!"  and, "We don't want charity, we just want parity." Patty Dukes gave an inspiring speech and told the crowd that, though women have come a long way, much work on the issue of equal pay is still needed.

DOL dispels myths about the pay gap

In a recent blog post, the Department of Labor (DOL) addressed common myths about pay inequality. Have you ever heard or thought of any of the following myths?

• MYTH: Saying women only earn 77 cents on the dollar is a huge exaggeration - the "real" pay gap is much smaller than that (if it even exists).
• MYTH: There is no such thing as the gender pay gap - legitimate differences between men and women cause the gap in pay, not discrimination.
• MYTH: But the pay gap is not my problem. Once you account for the jobs that require specialized skills or education it goes away.
• MYTH: Women are responsible for the pay gap because they seek out flexible jobs or choose to work fewer hours. Putting family above work is why women earn less.
• MYTH: We don't need to do anything, the gender pay gap will eventually go away by itself.

The DOL's post was in response to the Senate failing to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act earlier this month.  The article ended with this poignant thought: "The pay gap isn't a myth, it's a reality - and it's our job to fix it."