The root of the bill is last May’s Supreme Court decision in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. Ledbetter, the area manager of the plant, had sued the company after learning that her salary had been 15 percent less than that of the lowest-paid male employee in her position for several years.

A lower court awarded her almost $4 million in damages. But the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision, based on an understanding that Equal Employment Opportunity Commission procedures require claims to be filed within 180 days of a discriminatory action first being taken. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court essentially agreed, ruling that Ledbetter’s complaint was “untimely.”

The decision provoked an outcry from women’s organizations, labor unions and civil rights advocacy groups; Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg urged lawmakers to pass legislation gutting the decision. The legislation, introduced in June by George Miller , D-Calif., passed in the House, 225-199, in late July (HR 2831). A companion bill (S 1843) was introduced in the Senate by Edward M. Kennedy , D-Mass.