Lilly Ledbetter, a stalwart in the fight for fair pay, dies at 86

After discovering she was paid much less than men in the same job, she sued her employer. The case reached the Supreme Court and led to a U.S. law named in her honor.

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Lilly Ledbetter, center, at a 2019 event in Washington to advocate the proposed Paycheck Fairness Act. She is flanked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.). (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

By Harrison Smith
October 14, 2024 at 6:32 p.m. EDT

Lilly Ledbetter, a manager at a Goodyear tire plant who, after discovering that she was earning far less than the men in her position, spent years battling for equal pay for women, filing a lawsuit that reached the Supreme Court and inspired federal legislation named in her honor, died Oct. 12 at a hospital in Birmingham, Ala. She was 86. ... The cause was respiratory failure, according to a statement from the family. Her death came two days after the premiere of ??Lilly,” a biopic starring Patricia Clarkson, at the Hamptons International Film Festival in New York.

Ms. Ledbetter never set out to become a face of the equal-pay movement. But while nearing retirement in 1998 at her Goodyear plant in Gadsden, Ala., she received an anonymous letter — “a torn piece of copy paper with black handwriting on it” — that revealed she was making much less than men in the same position: $3,727 a month, compared with colleagues earning between $4,286 and $5,236 during the same period.

“When I saw that, it took my breath away,” she told NPR in a 2009 interview. “I felt humiliated. I felt degraded. I had to sort of get my composure back to go ahead to perform my job and then, the first day off, I went to Birmingham, Alabama, and filed a charge with the EEOC,” the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.


Ms. Ledbetter in 2018, during a visit to Washington to promote the Paycheck Fairness Act. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)

Ms. Ledbetter had been a manager at the plant for 19 years. She was among the only women in her position, and recalled that from the beginning of her time at the plant she faced sexism and discrimination. “I take bossin’ from a woman at home; I’m not doin’ it here,” male employees would tell her. Once, after she disciplined several workers in a short period, her tires were slashed and her car was keyed.

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Ms. Ledbetter revisited the Supreme Court in 2018, 11 years after it ruled against her in a landmark wage-discrimination case. (Petula Dvorak/The Washington Post)

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Ms. Ledbetter, left, with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a White House ceremony for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

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Ms. Ledbetter in 2018, joining demonstrators opposed to the Supreme Court confirmation of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

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By Harrison Smith
Harrison Smith is a reporter on The Washington Post's obituaries desk. Since joining the obituaries section in 2015, he has profiled big-game hunters, fallen dictators and Olympic champions. He sometimes covers the living as well, and previously co-founded the South Side Weekly, a community newspaper in Chicago.follow on X @harrisondsmith

Birmingham Real-Time News
Lilly Ledbetter dead at 86: Alabama worker’s legal fight led Obama to sign Fair Pay Act of 2009

Updated: Oct. 13, 2024, 8:12 p.m. | Published: Oct. 13, 2024, 3:11 p.m.

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US President Barack Obama applauds Lilly Ledbetter before signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, January 29, 2009. The wage discrimination bill, which allows employees more time to file a claim, is named after Lilly Ledbetter, a retired worker at a Goodyear factory in Alabama who discovered she was paid less than her male counterparts. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images

By William Thornton | wthornton@al.com

Lilly Ledbetter, whose discovery that she earned less than her male counterparts in a Gadsden Goodyear plant led to federal legislation, is dead at the age of 86. ... According to her family, Ledbetter died of respiratory failure. ... “Lilly Ledbetter passed away peacefully last night at the age of 86,” the family said in a statement. “She was surrounded by her family and loved ones. Our mother lived an extraordinary life. We truly appreciate your respect for our privacy during this time of grief. "

See also: Obama and others pay tribute to Lilly Ledbetter

Just last week, Ledbetter was awarded the Future Is Female Lifetime Achievement Award by Advertising Week. At the same time, a feature film about her life, “Lilly,” starring Patricia Clarkson, premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival. ... The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was the first bill then-President Barack Obama signed into law after taking office in 2009.

Ledbetter’s lawsuit against Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. came after working more than 19 years at the company’s Gadsden plant. ... Ledbetter sued the company, she said, after an anonymous note informed her that she was making as much as $2,000 a month less than men in the same job. A jury later awarded Ledbetter $3.3 million in damages, but that was later struck down.

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