I can’t say the Supreme Courtiers’ latest ruling came as a shock. My reaction is more like the one I have when watching the World’s Dumbest Criminals on TV — like the guy who falls in through the skylight while trying to get in to rob the convenience store and then finds the doors locked so he can’t get out — all caught on video, natch.

The Supreme Court has just ruled that unless you sue your employer for pay discrimination within 180 days of being given that pay, you can’t sue -ever! Never mind that it is extremely hard to find out what your peers are being paid in most companies, and those who persist in trying to find out stand in the way of firing.

The court held on Tuesday that employees may not bring suit under the principal federal anti-discrimination law unless they have filed a formal complaint with a federal agency within 180 days after their pay was set. The timeline applies, according to the decision, even if the effects of the initial discriminatory act were not immediately apparent to the worker and even if they continue to the present day.


Supreme Courtiers

Fortunately, the ruling seems to be an interpretation of the Civil Rights act, and so Congress could re-work the language to make the ruling moot. Unfortunately, there are enough in Congress who think that since women on the whole are shorter than men they should, on the whole, be paid less.

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