Bill Positions

Bill Number: SB 368

Bill Title: Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act of 2009

Bill Sponsor(s): Senator Raskin, et al

Subject: Workplace Regulations

Committee: JPR

Bill Summary: This bill authorizes the recovery of back pay for up to two years preceding the filing of a complaint under State law
for employment discrimination based on an unlawful employment practice that occurred outside the statute of limitations for filing a complaint but was similar or related to an unlawful practice with regard to discrimination in compensation that occurred during the complaint filing period. The Act specifies that an unlawful employment practice with respect to discrimination in compensation occurs when (1) a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice is adopted; (2) an individual becomes subject to a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice; or (3) an individual is affected by the application of a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, including each time wages, benefits, or other compensation is paid, resulting wholly or partly from the discriminatory decision or other practice.

History: HB 439 received an UNF vote from HGO in 2008. Its companion bill SB 563 passed the Senate, but was withdrawn by bill sponsor prior to the HGO vote. In 2009 following the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act at the Federal level, SB 368 was enacted into state law as Chapter 56.

Chamber Position: Oppose

Position Summary: This bill will permit employees to sleep on their rights and file charges of discrimination many years later. The enforcement tools provided through voluntary cooperation, through the Maryland Human Relations Commission, and through private litigation as is available under federal law when those efforts fail is now established in Maryland. If an employee believes that he or she has been treated in a discriminatory manner by an employer, that matter should be raised internally and then with a fair employment practice agency (the EEOC, the MHRC or a local agency) promptly and confronted forthrightly. Only in this way can the processes of investigation and voluntary cooperation and conciliation be expected to work. When disagreements and disputes in the workplace fester and potential damage amounts increase, compromise, cooperation and amicable resolution become far more difficult to achieve. For these reasons, the Maryland Chamber opposed this bill.

Position Statement: Click here (pdf)

Chamber Staff: Allyson Black

General Assembly: Click here to view the bill on the Maryland General Assembly's website.