The central point of Ledbetter's case seems to be that years went by before she was aware of the pay disparity, and equitable considerations would demand that the 180-day filing period not be strictly applied. But the Eleventh Circuit opinion indicates Ledbetter's lawyers did not properly present that argument on appeal. How could that happen? We have no idea.
Actually, we do have one idea. As regular readers know, we have spotlighted the dubious work of numerous federal judges, showing that it is not unusual for them to flat-out misstate the facts or the law in their rulings. This applies to both district judges at the trial level and circuit judges at the appellate level--and we have exposed judicial butchery at multiple levels in the Don Siegelman case in Alabama and the Paul Minor case in Mississippi. The U.S. Supreme Court is not immune from screw ups and shenanigans, as anyone who has followed Bush v. Gore (2000) knows.
Did the appellate courts essentially throw Lilly Ledbetter's lawyers "under the bus" in an effort to support a finding that cannot be supported, based on the law? We certainly think it's possible.
In fact, we think a whole lot of seedy events are possible in today's toxic legal environment. On the surface, Lilly Ledbetter's lawyers had every incentive to put forth their best effort. Most discrimination cases are taken on a contingency basis, and when Ledbetter's $3.8 million judgment went out the window, so did her lawyers' cut of that award (probably in the range of 40 percent).
In the "pro business" environment of Alabama in the Bush years, was WCQP under extraordinary pressure to make sure a "bad precedent" wasn't set for pay-discrimination cases? Did someone provide under-the-table financial incentives to make sure that other victims of unequal pay did not get the idea they could win a multimillion-dollar judgment in court?
We don't have the answers to those questions. But it seems clear that Lilly Ledbetter got screwed for years in the workplace and wound up getting screwed again in court. If I were her, I would closely review those appellate documents and direct some serious questions toward my lawyers.
A number of advocacy groups have stood up for Ledbetter in the aftermath of the Supreme Court reversal. Those groups also should take a close look at the actions of the lawyers from Wiggins Childs. The conventional wisdom has been that Ledbetter's lawyers acted in a noble fashion, putting forth their best effort in a fight against injustice. But court documents indicate that might not have been the case--that they either were grossly incompetent or intentionally sold one of their most high-profile clients down the river.
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