DC Federal Court of Appeals Holds Employee Cannot Invoke Benefit of Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to Save His Untimely Failure to Promote Claim

In a key decision addressing the application of the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to claims of discrimination, the federal DC Court of Appeals, in Schuler v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, held that the Act, which effectively extends the accrual of a claim of discrimination in compensation for statute of limitations purposes to any date on which a person is affected by the discriminatory decision, does not apply to a claim that the employer's decision not to promote the employee to a higher paying position was discriminatory -- commonly referred to as a failure to promote claim. In Schuler, the plaintiff filed suit in 2002 under the ADEA claiming that the decisions not to promote him in 1999, 2000, and 2001 were discriminatory based upon his age. The district court dismissed the 1999 and 2000 failure to promote claims as untimely since the plaintiff did not file a charge as to those claims within the 300-day limitations period. Relying on the Lily Ledbetter Act, the plaintiff argued that the affect of the 1999 and 2000 decisions not to promote him continued up to the filing of this charge, thus making his claims timely. The Court rejected the argument, holding that the Act, which expressly applies only to claims involving "discrimination in compensation" and involves a "discriminatory compensation decision," does not apply. The Court concluded that a decision not to promote an employee does not necessarily implicate compensation, therefore it does not fall within the meaning of a "discriminatory compensation decision." A copy of the decision can be read here.

This case, which rejected an attempt to expand the application of the Lily Ledbetter Act and its limitations-saving provisions, should prove helpful to employers defending untimely claims of discrimination.

If you would like guidance or counsel in handling and litigating failure to promote and other discrimination claims, please contact Eric Gunderson and/or visit the Farrell & Gunderson website.