Lilly Ledbetter, equal pay activist who inspired the Fair Pay Act, dies at 86

“Lilly Ledbetter passed away peacefully last night at the age of 86. She was surrounded by her family and loved ones. Our mother lived an extraordinary life,” according to the statement.

Ledbetter, a 19-year employee of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., sued the tire giant in 1999 for gender-based pay discrimination after she discovered substantial pay disparities between her pay and those of her male counterparts doing the same job. .

“I took a job that was normally considered a man’s job. I don’t agree with that term,” Ledbetter told Forbes in a 2019 interview. “It’s a job. Whether it’s a man, African-American, Latino, heavy, skinny, whatever .If they are the most qualified for this job, they should get it and they should get the money to go with it.

Ledbetter initially won the case and was awarded $3.8 million in back payments and damages in 2003, before the decision was overturned following Goodyear’s appeal.

The case eventually reached the Supreme Court, which ruled 5-4 against Ledbetter, stating that she did not file her complaint within 180 days of Goodyear’s payment decision.

Legislation in his name was introduced in Congress during George W. Bush’s presidency in 2008. That bill was defeated but was reintroduced in January 2009 after Barack Obama became president. The project was approved by an overwhelming majority in the House and Senate.

The Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which was the first bill Obama signed into law after becoming president, modified the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to give employees more time to challenge pay discrimination. The law allows the 180-day statute of limitations for filing equal pay lawsuits to be reset with each new paycheck.

On Monday, Obama praised Ledbetter’s legacy.

“Lilly Ledbetter never intended to be a trailblazer or a household name. She just wanted to be paid the same as a man for her hard work. But this Alabama grandmother kept fighting until the day I signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law – my first as president,” Obama wrote in a post on X.

“Lilly did what so many Americans before her did: set high goals for herself and even higher goals for her children and grandchildren.”

President Joe Biden called Ledbetter a “fearless leader” in her fight for equal pay and sent his “condolences to Lilly’s family and all the women she empowered.”

“Her fight began on the factory floor and reached the Supreme Court and Congress, and she never stopped fighting for all Americans to get what they deserve,” Biden wrote Monday in a statement released by the White House.

“Due to Lilly’s tireless efforts, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act – a critical step in the fight to eliminate racial and gender pay gaps – became the first bill signed into law in the Obama-Biden administration,” he said. Biden. “It was an honor to support Lilly when the bill that bears her name was signed into law.”