Lilly Ledbetter was a Goodyear area manager turnedactivist whose Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. lawsuit resulted in landmark equal pay legislation, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.
- Died: October 12, 2024 (Who else died on October 12?)
- Details of death: Died of respiratory failure at the age of 86.
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Lilly Ledbetter’s legacy
As she grew up in Alabama, Ledbetter’s father taught her that when you put in an honest day’s work, you receive an honest day’s pay. That work ethic eventually led her to Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., where she was hired in 1979. Over the course of her 19 years there, her efforts helped Ledbetter rise through the ranks and earn her way into an area management position. However, as she neared the end of her career in 1998, an anonymous tip revealed that she was being paid far less than her male colleagues – in some cases, as much as 40 percent less.
Ledbetter sued her employer, alleging that the company was in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963. A jury agreed, awarding her $3.5 million in back pay and damages, but in 2007, the Supreme Court reversed the decision by a 5-4 decision. Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. argued that, in effect, Ledbetter did not raise her concerns in time, saying the statute of limitations dated to when the company first began underpaying her nearly two decades prior.
In 2009, Congress passed – and President Barack Obama signed – the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 so that the ticking clock on the statute of limitations on pay discrimination restarts with someone’s most recent paycheck, not when the discrimination started. It was the first piece of legislation Obama signed into law as president.
Ledbetter chronicled her story in the 2012 book, “Grace and Grit: My Fight for Equal Pay and Fairness at Goodyear and Beyond.” She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York in 2011, and she recently received the first Future Is Female Lifetime Achievement Award from Advertising Week. She was portrayed by Patricia Clarkson in the film “Lilly,” released just two days prior to her death.
On how pay inequality was kept secret from her:
“When I went to work there, I was told to never discuss my pay, and if you did discuss your pay, you would no longer work there. So, not a single person around me ever discussed their earnings. There was no way to find out where I stood, how I rated according to my peers.” — Interview with the Tony Burch Foundation
Tributes to Lilly Ledbetter
Full obituary: The New York Times
