Employment Law Bill Stalls in Senate

The United States Senate has failed to overcome a Republican led filibuster on a bill that would have made it easier for employees that are victims of pay discrimination to sue their employers.

The bill seeks to change the existing rules for filing pay discrimination suits, which currently require victims of pay discrimination to sue within 180 days of discovering the discrimination, regardless of how long the action affects their pay from its discovery.

Once an individual discovers she is a victim of pay discrimination, she only has 180 days to file suit or the statute of limitations will expire. The bill proposes that victims of pay discrimination be given 180 days from the date of any paycheck that was affected by the discriminatory act to sue.

The bill, which was already passed by the US House in 2007, has yet to make it to a vote in the Senate and will not likely see the light of day again until the new congress takes office in 2009.