Hits and Misses
Associated Press
Hits and Misses
HIT: A year before she retired from a supervisory role at a Goodyear plant in Alabama, Lilly Ledbetter found out through an anonymous note that she was earning about 35% less than her male colleagues who filled similar jobs. She took Goodyear to court, and was awarded $3 million in back pay and damages, but the decision was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. The court ruled that Ledbetter needed to file suit 180 days after her first paycheck, though it would have been extraordinarily hard for her to have known about the pay discrepancy that early in her tenure, given the secrecy culture that surrounds what people are paid. As a result of Ledbetter being denied the award, in 2009 Congress passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which now gives employees 180 days after their final paycheck to file suit. Ledbetter died this past Saturday at the age of 86, still advocating for equal pay. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, women still earn 83 cents for every dollar a man earns. Following news of her death, former President Barack Obama said, “Lilly Ledbetter never set out to be a trailblazer or a household name. She just wanted to be paid the same as a man for her hard work.”
MISS: Despite the fact that Halloween is almost two weeks away, many retailers have already put out their goods for the holidays and have decorated their stores accordingly. Ohio-based Bath & Body Works, which specializes in goods like soap, body wash and candles, got itself in some seriously hot water over a scented candle it recently issued called Snowed In. Now, a candle wouldn’t usually spark a controversy, but the problem was its label. It was meant to look like a paper snowflake, but many observers thought – not without good reason – that it looked like a series of Ku Klux Klan hoods. Bath & Body Works has recalled the candles, the labels are being trashed and the company issued an apology. Meanwhile, candles with the original label are reportedly being sold for many times their retail price on eBay.
HIT: More than 300 islands make up the Pacific nation of Fiji, located just over the International Dateline, and it’s fairly isolated – more than 2,000 miles from Australia, 3,000 miles from Hawaii and more than 5,000 miles from the U.S. West Coast. It may not be a place that many Americans give much thought to, but last Saturday the rituals and culture of Fiji were celebrated at Uniontown’s Hilton Garden Inn. It marked the 54th anniversary of Fiji’s independence from Britain, and some of the 50 to 60 Fijian families that have made Uniontown their home were in attendance. They have come to the area for jobs in the natural gas industry, and Bill Gerke, the mayor of Uniontown, said, “It’s wonderful that so many Fijians have chosen to call Uniontown their home.” Michael Dunham, a Uniontown resident, said the event demonstrated that Uniontown is a community where Fijians can feel welcome. “If you think about it, they could have chosen anywhere else in the world, and they chose Fayette County,” Dunham said. “The county may not be perfect, and no place is, but it just goes to show that we do have a place for everyone here.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: A hotly contested election is looming, and we have received many letters to the editor about it. However, the Observer-Reporter has traditionally ended running letters to the editor in support or opposition to a candidate about two weeks before an election. This being the case, the last day the Observer-Reporter will run letters to the editor about candidates on the ballot in the upcoming election will be Wednesday, Oct. 23