WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep Tom Allen, D-Maine, on Wednesday called on the Senate to pass legislation reversing a Supreme Court ruling that limits the amount of time victims of wage discrimination have to report the discrimination.

Senate Republicans have blocked legislation that would give employees a “reasonable” amount of time to file wage discrimination complaints. In Lilly Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the Supreme Court ruled that employees had just 180 days from the time of its occurrence to report discrimination.

At a Capitol Hill press conference, Allen called the decision a “giant leap backward in the struggle for women’s equality in the work force.”

Maine’s Republican Senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, have said they would vote with Democrats to oppose the filibuster. If the bill’s sponsors can muster 60 votes, the Senate will be able to vote on the actual legislation, which requires a simple majority to pass.

“Discrimination of any kind in the workplace should not be tolerated. It’s time the law reflected that,” Snowe said in a statement.

Collins will vote to block the filibuster and for the bill to overturn the court’s interpretation of the Fair Pay Act, said spokeswoman Jen Burita.

Allen, who supported a similar measure that the House passed last year, appeared at a press conference on Wednesday with Senators Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and Tom Harkin of Iowa, both Democrats. Ledbetter, the plaintiff who lost in the Supreme Court case, also appeared at the event.

In his remarks, Allen said that in addition to passing legislation giving more time for employees to report discrimination, Congress should pass legislation updating wage discrimination laws and requiring companies to give parents paid sick leave.

The ruling “brings into sharp focus the importance of ensuring future appointees Supreme Court represent the interests and rights of working women,” Allen said.