Obama to sign executive orders closing wage gaps impacting race and gender

not long after he became the first bi-racial president of the united states, barack obama faced widespread criticism regarding his commitment to the plethora of issues facing black communities. on tuesday, president barack obama will sign two executive orders specifically designed to close wage gaps impacting an individual's race and gender.

one requires contractors doing business with the federal government to include race and gender information when reporting all compensation data. the other prohibits contractors with federal contracts from retaliating against employees who share compensation information. this is important, because in some instances, employees were unaware they were paid less than their peers, which is discriminatory. 

in one of the highest-profile cases involving such discrimination, lilly ledbetter sued the goodyear tire and rubber company for paying her substantially less than male managers in the same role over her career with the company. she worked there over two decades.

in 2007, the supreme court ruled ledbetter missed the window for suing in the case because she hadn't filed her suit within 180 days of receiving her first paycheck. however, she didn't learn her male colleagues earned substantially more than she did until many years after the fact - which made it impossible for her to have adhered to such requirements.

the supreme court ruling against ledbetter would eventually lead to the passage of the lilly ledbetter fair pay act of 2009, the first bill obama signed into law after taking office. an amendment to the civil rights act, the statute resets the clock regarding fair-pay lawsuits. as a result, future plaintiffs aren't limited to the 180-day window.

many employers discourage and often prohibit employees from discussing their salaries and wages with one another. ledbetter worked for a private company: their personnel will not be directly affected by the executive orders. still, this action is a much needed step in amending historical wrongs among hard-working, law-abiding, tax-paying folks.