Quick history lesson, Lilly Ledbetter was an advocate for fair pay, specifically as it pertains to the difference in pay we see between the genders.
Lilly Ledbetter was born April 14, 1948 & in 1979, she was hired by Goodyear as a supervisor. 19 years later and near retirement, she received an anonymous letter that informed her of the fact that she made thousands of dollars a year less than her male coworkers in the same position. Ledbetter sued Goodyear for sex discrimination, due to the face that she earned $200,000 less than in her male counterparts over the course of her career. Initially winning the case, it was overturned on appeal. The lawsuit eventually made it's way to the US Supreme Court, which ruled against Ledbetter, stating that she did not sue within the 180 timeframe allotted by laws at the time. This is despite the fact that she received at least one paycheck from Goodyear within that timeframe. However, Ruth Bader Ginsburg did write the dissent of the Ledbetter v. Goodyear case.
These setbacks did not stop Lilly Ledbetter. She continued to advocate for fair pay between the genders. In 2009, the 111th Congress passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which loosened the timeliness requirements of filing discrimination suits, as long as any act of discrimination, including receipt of a single paycheck reflecting past acts of discrimination, occurs within the 180-day period. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was the first piece of legislation that President Barack Obama signed in office. He said of the Act, "Lilly Ledbetter, who had worked for years and found out long into her work that she had been getting paid all these years less than men, substantially. She brought suit. They said, well, it's too late to file suit because you should have filed suit right when it started happening. She said, I just found out. They said, it doesn't matter. So we changed that law to allow somebody like Lilly, when they find out, to finally be able to go ahead and file suit."
On October 12, 2024, Lilly Ledbetter passed away. NPR, Forbes, The Washington Post, among others left tributes to Ledbetter for their readers (and us).
Lilly Ledbetter, the activist who inspired Fair Pay Act, dies at 86 : NPR
How Lilly Ledbetter’s Legacy Paved The Way For Equitable Pay In America (forbes.com)
Lilly Ledbetter, and the wage gap that followed her to retirement and death (msn.com)
For further reading on equal pay, the Quincy Public Library has a few books that can be borrowed from us & are listed below. They can be put on hold through our website or by calling the library.
Good Guys: How Men Can Be Better Allies for Women in the Workplace by David Smith
Ladies Get Paid: The Ultimate Guide to Breaking Barriers, Owning Your Worth, & Taking Command of Your Career by Clare Wasserman
Profit and Punishment: How America Criminalizes the Poor in the Name of Justiceby Tony Messenger
Resist & Persist: Faith & Fight for Equality by Erin Wathen
Womentality: Thirteen Empowering Stories by Women who Said Goodbye to Their Workplace & Hello to Their Lives
Work It: Secrets to Success from the Boldest Women in Business by Carrie Kerpen
"I'll be happy if the last thing they say about me after I die is that I made a difference." - Lilly Ledbetter