Employment Litigation · Primary-source case analysis

Ledbetter: The Charge Period Ran From the Discrete Pay Decision Under Then-Existing Law

By Aneeta Mishra and Timothy Chan

Published May 9, 2026 · Updated October 17, 2026

Decision: Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 550 U.S. 618 (2007).

Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. is important both for its original accrual rule and for Congress’s later statutory response.

Past evaluations affected current pay

Lilly Ledbetter alleged that sex discrimination in performance evaluations and raises left her earning less than male colleagues. She filed an EEOC charge near the end of her career, although the pay-setting decisions she challenged largely occurred outside the statutory charge period.

The Court treated pay-setting as a discrete act

The majority held that a new charging period began when a discriminatory compensation decision was made and communicated. Later checks reflecting the continuing consequences of an earlier decision did not, by themselves, revive that untimely act under the rule the Court applied.

The Supreme Court affirmed the appellate reversal

The Eleventh Circuit had reversed the jury judgment for Ledbetter. The Supreme Court affirmed that appellate judgment, applying the charge-period rule then in force; it did not itself reverse the court of appeals. The opinion distinguished a present violation from the later effects of an earlier act.

Congress changed the governing rule

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 amended federal discrimination statutes so an unlawful compensation practice occurs when a discriminatory compensation decision is adopted, when a person becomes subject to it, or when compensation is paid under it. Current claims must apply the amended text rather than treating the 2007 accrual holding as controlling law.

Key takeaways

• Calendar the administrative charge period immediately.
• Identify each compensation decision and paycheck.
• Apply the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to current accrual questions.
• Preserve evaluation, raise, comparator, and payroll records.