3d Circuit Revives Claim of Pennsylvania Worker With Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act
Posted by Teresa A. Cheek On September 14, 2009 In: Cases of Note , Gender (Title VII) , Wages and Benefits
Mikula v. Allegheny County of Pennsylvania is a new decision from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, interpreting the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (“the Act”).
Facts of the Case
Plaintiff Mary Lou Mikula was hired by Allegheny County Police Department as its grants coordinator in 2001. In September 2004, Mikula wrote a memo to the Police Superintendent asking him to change her title to “Grants and Project Manager” and make her salary equal to or greater than that of a male colleague whose title was “Fiscal Manager.” The fiscal manager was making $7,000 a year more than Mikula at that time. The county did not respond to Mikula’s request. In October 2005, Mikula renewed her request for a raise. The county again did not respond.
In March 2006, Mikula filed an internal complaint alleging gender and age discrimination, stating that she was paid $7,000 a year less than a comparable male colleague and that the pay discrimination had started when she was hired. She also filed a lawsuit in federal district court alleging that her rights under the Equal Pay Act had been violated. In August 2006, the County’s Human Resources department notified Mikula that it had completed its investigation of her complaint and did not agree with her allegations of discrimination.
The Timeliness Argument
In April 2007, Mikula filed a discrimination charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging pay discrimination based on sex under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”). When she received a right-to-sue letter, she added the claim to her federal court case. In response, the County filed a motion arguing that the Title VII claim should be dismissed because Mikula had waited too long to assert the claim.
Under Title VII, claimants in most states must file their discrimination charges within 300 days of the allegedly discriminatory act. The County argued that the pay decision had been made in 2001 when Mikula was hired, and that even if the court allowed an extension of time until 2004, when Mikula found out about the difference between her pay and the fiscal manager’s pay, she had still waited more than 300 days before filing a charge. Mikula argued that the Human Resources department’s decision in August 2006 on her internal complaint of discrimination was itself a pay decision and that she had filed a charge within 300 days after receiving the decision.


