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This week, the U.S. Supreme Court made it much more difficult for plaintiffs to file pay discrimination claims under Title VII. In a 5-4 decision (Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co.”), the Court ruled that a plaintiff filing suit for pay discrimination under Title VII has 180 days to do so – and the 180 day clock starts to tick on the day the pay decision is made, and is not restarted when a new paycheck gets issued. If you’re interested in more details, you check out some good articles at Law.com, Washingtopost.com and NYTimes.com.

While this decision gives employers some breathing room and a defense against stale pay discrimination claims, it has Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and many women’s rights groups (including NOW and National Women’s Law Center) up in arms. Pay discrimination is often difficult to detect, and is generally not apparent on its face. It can take years to reveal itself. Ginsberg, in her dissent, made a call for legislative action “to note and correct the Court’s parsimonious reading of Title VII.”

Gender identity discrimination statutes are on the rise, and employment and HR professionals need to get up to speed on this emerging trend.

But first things first. What is “gender identity”?

Gender identity is a term that refers to a person’s belief about whether they’re male or female – it’s not related to how someone appears physically. It’s also not about a person’s sexual orientation. Rather, some people do not believe that their real gender identity corresponds to their biological sex – for example, someone may appear to be male, but they believe they’re female. These individuals are commonly referred to as “transsexual.”

If you haven’t noticed yet, I’m a bit of a news and pop culture junkie. Over the past year, I’ve blogged about some of the more outrageous celebrity and high profile executive misconduct — and I’ve tried to provide guidance about how to avoid the same problems in your workplace.

And there’s always plenty to write about. Just yesterday, HBO Chairman and Chief Executive Chris Albrecht was granted a leave of absence following his arrest over the weekend for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend. In an e-mail message yesterday to all HBO employees, Albrecht said he was “deeply sorry for what occurred in Las Vegas this weekend” and that it represented “a wake-up call to me of a weakness I thought I had overcome long ago.”