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Lilly Ledbetter, a notable women’s equality activist, died on Saturday at 86. According to her family, Ledbetter died of respiratory failure.
Ledbetter worked at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant in Gadsden for 19 years before receiving an anonymous note and discovering that her male counterparts with similar experience and seniority were paid as much as $2,000 more monthly for their work. She had worked there from 1979 until her retirement in 1998.
She successfully sued Goodyear, receiving back pay and the cost of compensatory and punitive damages. Still, the judgment was reversed on appeal by the Eleventh Circuit since she had not filed within the 180-day window.
The lawsuit eventually reached the Supreme Court in 2007, which ruled against her. The Supreme Court upheld the appeal court ruling that Ledbetter had not filed the suit within the 180-day window. As a result, Ledbetter never collected any kind of settlement from Goodyear.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote, “once again, the ball is in Congress’s court.” This ignited activist groups, who saw the court’s decision as a setback for women and civil rights
In 2009, the 111th United States Congress passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to make filing pay discrimination claims easier. It was the first bill then-President Barack Obama signed into law after taking office in 2009.
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act allows workers to file a complaint 180 days after the last pay violation and not only 180 days after the initial pay disparity.
This change was made to counter the Supreme Court’s decision to limit workers’ time to file such claims, making it harder for them to seek justice for pay discrimination. With the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, every paycheck that shows discrimination can be challenged without strict time limits.
In 2011, Ledbetter was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame and just last week was recognized with the Future Is Female Lifetime Achievement Award by Advertising Week.
