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07-2932 Groesch v. city of Springfield, Illinois

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//March 28, 2011//

07-2932 Groesch v. city of Springfield, Illinois

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//March 28, 2011//

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United States Court of Appeals
CIVIL OPINIONS
Employment
Fair pay; retroactivity

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 is retroactive to claims after November 10, 2003.

“The City has not offered any persuasive basis for avoiding application of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

First, the City argues that each paycheck the officers receive is determined by a ‘seniority pay system’ and that a seniority pay system is a not a ‘discriminatory compensation decision or other practice’ as contemplated by the Ledbetter Act. The problem is that the officers do not contend that the seniority pay system is inherently discriminatory, nor do they need to do so to satisfy the Ledbetter Act’s requirements. A facially neutral compensation system may still be applied in a discriminatory manner. That is why the Ledbetter Act requires only ‘a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice,’ not an intrinsically discriminatory compensation system. It is enough to allege, as the officers do, that the City’s decisions as to who received prior service credit within the existing seniority system were motivated by race.

“The City’s seniority argument fails to come to grips with the fact that it changed the seniority system for Officer Schluter, and only for him. The City’s ‘neutral seniority system’ argument attempts to sidestep both the language of the Act and the heart of the matter alleged by the appellants — that the City refused to recognize the white officers’ prior service under the seniority system while doing so for a black officer.”

Affirmed in part, and Reversed in part.
07-2932 Groesch v. city of Springfield, Illinois
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Scott, J., Hamilton, J.

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