Women’s rights activist Lily Ledbetter has died, a representative for her family said. She was 86 years old.
Ledbetter, known for advocating for equal pay for women, died Saturday night of respiratory failure. She was born and raised in Alabama.
“She was surrounded by family and loved ones. Our mother lived an extraordinary life,” the family said in a statement Sunday.
Ledbetter’s fight for equal pay began in the 1990s. at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Gadsden, Alabama, when she received an anonymous letter informing her that she was being paid far less than male colleagues of equal or lesser seniority and experience. She worked as a regional director.
“I took a job that was typically considered a man’s job. I don’t agree with that term,” Ledbetter said in a 2019 interview with Forbes magazine. Whether it’s male, African American, Latino, fat, thin, whatever. If you are the best qualified for the job, you should take it and get the funding that comes with it. ”
Thus began a years-long legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court. Mr. Ledbetter ultimately lost his case against Goodyear, with a high court ruling ruling that Mr. Ledbetter had missed the deadline to file his claim. But Democrats in Congress, encouraged by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dissent, fought to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
The law will make it easier for victims of wage discrimination to file lawsuits and ease the statute of limitations that previously favored companies.
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was the first piece of legislation signed by Barack Obama as president in 2009.
Former president and first lady Michelle Obama said in a statement Sunday: “Lily did what so many Americans have done in her lifetime: Aiming even higher for herself and her children and grandchildren.” “It was to raise the bar,” he said. “Michelle and I are grateful for her advocacy and friendship and send our love and prayers to her family and everyone who continues the fight she started.”
Last week, Ms. Ledbetter received Advertising Week’s inaugural Future Is Female Lifetime Achievement Award, which honors the achievements of trailblazing women. A film about her life, Lily, starring Patricia Clarkson as Ledbetter, recently premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival.
