Bennett Amendment

Bennett Amendment

The Bennett Amendment is a provision in §703(h) of Title VII of the United States Civil Rights Act of 1964 incorporating specific terms of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 to more clearly define under what circumstances an employer may provide different compensation to employees of different sex. The Amendment has invited debate on the extent to which it impacts the question of "comparable worth", including whether or not lawsuits may be brought when jobs are different, but judged by contrast on an importance continuum to jobs of higher pay. In 1981 the Supreme Court of the United States determined with respect to County of Washington v. Gunther that the Bennett Amendment explicitly incorporated only limited defenses to unequal pay and did not otherwise bar suits based on a comparison of payment for different jobs. Nevertheless, it has continued to be used to bar comparable worth suits in lower courts.