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

Lilly Ledbetter, a women’s equality activist whose fight for equal pay led to the passage of the monumental Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, died on Saturday. She was 86 years old.

Ledbetter’s death was confirmed on Monday by Jodi Solomon, his speaking manager.

“She was fierce, she was a crusader and just a good friend. We will miss her very much,” Solomon told NPR.

Born in Jacksonville, Alabama, Ledbetter was hired as a supervisor at a Goodyear tire plant in Gadsden, Alabama, in 1979. Years later, she discovered, through an anonymous note left in her mailbox, that she was paid less than her co-workers who held the same position.

“When I saw this, it took my breath away. I felt humiliated. I felt degraded,” Ledbetter recalled in a 2009 interview with NPR. “I had to regain my composure to move forward and do my job and then, on the first day off , I went to Birmingham, Alabama, and filed a complaint with the EEOC.

That action in 1998 was the beginning of a 10-year legal fight for equity for Ledbetter.

She retired from Goodyear 11 months after discovering the pay disparity and filing a gender discrimination lawsuit against the company in 1999. She won the lawsuit in 2003 and was awarded more than $3 million, but the amount was reduced to U.S. $300,000 because of a legal limit and $60,000 in back wages. Goodyear appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, arguing that Ledbetter could only win damages or back pay for the 180 days before his lawsuit was filed. In 2007, the high court agreed in a 5-4 decision.

In her dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Ledbetter’s case has “no statute of limitations” and wrote that the issue “is in Congress’ court.”

Less than two years later, Congress approved the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009which amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and allows workers to “obtain relief, including recovery of back pay, up to two years before the charge is filed.” Then-President Barack Obama signed the measure into law on January 29, 2009, the first bill he signed as president.

Obama paid tribute to Ledbetter in a statement on Sunday.

“Lilly Ledbetter never intended to be a trailblazer or a household name. She just wanted to get paid the same as a man for her hard work,” he wrote. “Lilly did what so many Americans before her did: set high goals for herself and even higher goals for her children and grandchildren. Michelle and I are grateful for her advocacy and her friendship, and we send our love and prayers to her family and everyone continuing the fight she started.”

Ledbetter was recognized for her advocacy for equal pay and her story continues to resonate.

Last week, Ledbetter was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from Advertising Week for her activism for equal pay. Lilly, a film based on Ledbetter’s life, is being shown at screenings across the country.

NPR’s Nina Totenberg contributed to this report.