LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION urging the New York State Congressional deleg-
ation to introduce and ensure passage of the Evelyn Coke Fair Pay for
Caregivers Act

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to urge the New York
State Congressional delegation to introduce and ensure passage of the
Evelyn Coke Fair Pay for Caregivers Act; and
WHEREAS, On January 29, 2009, in the East Room of the White House,
President Barack Obama signed his first bill into law, the Lilly Ledbet-
ter Fair Pay Act; it overturned a notorious 5-to-4 Supreme Court deci-
sion from the year 2007 which had denied Ms. Ledbetter restitution for
years in which her employer, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, had
paid her less than her male colleagues; and
WHEREAS, The new law could not restore Ms. Ledbetter's lost wages
because her case could not be retried, but it brought justice, if belat-
edly, by ensuring that legal protections and civil rights denied to Ms.
Ledbetter would not be denied to others; it is past time for President
Obama to see that similar justice is done for the late Queens, New York,
resident Evelyn Coke; and
WHEREAS, In 2007, Evelyn Coke also had her day in Supreme Court--and
also lost; a retired home care aide, she had sued her employer for
decades of unpaid overtime; no one disputed that she had worked extra
long hours for no extra pay, but in a 9-to-0 decision, the justices
upheld a 1975 federal labor regulation that defines home care aides as
"companions"; that particular designation exempts home care agencies
from having to pay the federal minimum wage or time-and-a-half for over-
time; and
WHEREAS, Year in and year out, Evelyn Coke left her Queens house early
to go to the homes of elderly, sick, often dying people; she bathed
them, cooked for them, helped them dress and monitored their medica-
tions, and sometimes worked three consecutive 24-hour shifts; and
WHEREAS, Evelyn Coke loved the work, but she earned only around seven
dollars an hour and got no overtime pay; for years, she, being a single
mother of five, quietly grumbled, and then, quite uncharacteristically,
rebelled; and
WHEREAS, Although Evelyn Coke ultimately lost her legal case, her
story has continued to generate political waves; and now, even though
she is gone, her story remains alive as both Congress and President
Obama's administration review regulations that carry out amendments to a
1938 law on wages; and
WHEREAS, The justices were clear that the law gives the Labor Depart-
ment the power to change the regulation; Congress also could change the
rule, and yet the rule stands more than two years after the Coke deci-
sion and a year after lawmakers and Mr. Obama took a bow for the Ledbet-
ter fair-pay law; and
WHEREAS, Like Evelyn Coke, who was born in Jamaica, home care workers
are often immigrants; most are women or minorities and earn a low
income, and they are not mere companions; these home care workers typi-
cally help to feed, dress and move their elderly and disabled clients,
as well as maintain the house; and
WHEREAS, Home care also is one of the nation's fastest-growing occupa-
tions; currently numbering around two million, they are among the
lowest-paid and most-exploited in the work force; Evelyn Coke died at
the age of 74, in July of 2009 before she saw justice, let alone a White
House ceremony; and
WHEREAS, In Evelyn Coke's memory, it is imperative that President
Obama instruct his Labor Department to undo the companionship exemption;

if he does not act, then Congress should introduce and pass, without
delay, the Evelyn Coke Fair Pay for Caregivers Act; now, therefore, be
it
RESOLVED, That the New York State Congressional delegation be and
hereby is respectfully memorialized by this Legislative Body to intro-
duce and ensure passage of the Evelyn Coke Fair Pay for Caregivers Act;
and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to each member of the Congressional delegation from the State of
New York.