Lilly Ledbetter, Who Sued Goodyear For Gender Discrimination, Dies At 86

Lilly Ledbetter, whose gender pay equity legal fight inspired the Fair Pay Act of 2009, has died at age 86, according to the team making a film about her life.

When Barack Obama became president, the first bill he signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. I Photo: US Department of Labor

Ledbetter died of respiratory failure, her family told AL.com, Steve Almasy reported for CNN.

In the 1990s, after 19 years of working for Goodyear, Ledbetter discovered she had been earning thousands of dollars less each month than her male counterparts. She sued Goodyear in 1999 for gender discrimination.

Initially, she won in federal court in 2003 and was awarded $3.8 million in back pay and damages. However, the decision was later overturned when the tire giant appealed. The case eventually reached the Supreme Court in 2007, which upheld the lower court’s ruling.

In a 5-4 decision, the justices ruled Ledbetter should have filed suit within 180 days of the first instance when Goodyear paid her less than her peers.

Since she missed that window, Ledbetter had no grounds to sue, the court ruled. In retirement, Ledbetter became an activist and advocate for gender equity.

When Barack Obama became president, the first bill he signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

“That was the most awesome emotion I think that I have ever had,” she told CNN in 2018. “I’ll put it behind having a son and a daughter,” Vanessa Yurkevich and Jeanne Sahadi also reported for CNN.