Oct. 14 (UPI) — Lilly Ledbetter, who championed women’s rights and equal pay, has died at the age of 86.
Ledbetter, who was the inspiration for the Fair Pay Act of 2009, died Saturday night of respiratory failure in Alabama, her family announced Sunday in a statement.
“Lilly Ledbetter passed away peacefully last night at the age of 86. She was surrounded by her family and loved ones. Our mother lived an extraordinary life,” according to the statement.
Ledbetter, a 19-year employee of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., sued the tire giant in 1999 for gender-based pay discrimination after she discovered substantial pay disparities between her salary and that of her male counterparts who performed the same work.
“I took a job that had normally been considered a man’s job. I don’t agree with that term,” Ledbetter told Forbes in an interview in 2019. “It’s a job. Whether it’s a man, African American, Latino, heavy, skinny, whatever. If they’re the best qualified for that job, they should get it and they should get the money to go with it.”
Ledbetter initially won her case and was awarded $3.8 million in backpay and damages in 2003, before the decision was overturned upon Goodyear’s appeal.
The case eventually reached the Supreme Court, which ruled 5-4 against Ledbetter, stating she failed to file her complaint within the 180 days of the pay decision by Goodyear.
Legislation in her name was introduced in Congress during George W. Bush‘s presidency in 2008. That bill was defeated, but was reintroduced in January 2009 after Barack Obama became president. The bill passed overwhelmingly in the House and Senate.
The Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which was the first bill Obama signed into law after becoming president, modified the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to give employees more time to challenge pay discrimination. The law allows for the 180-day statute of limitations for filing equal-pay lawsuits to reset with each new paycheck.
On Monday, Obama praised Ledbetter’s legacy.
“Lilly Ledbetter never set out to be a trailblazer or a household name. She just wanted to be paid the same as a man for her hard work. But this grandmother from Alabama kept on fighting until the day I signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law — my first as president,” Obama wrote in a post on X.
“Lilly did what so many Americans before her have done: setting her sights high for herself and even higher for her children and grandchildren.”
President Joe Biden called Ledbetter a “fearless leader” in her fight for equal pay and sent his “condolences to Lilly’s family and all of the women she empowered.”
“Her fight began on the factory floor and reached the Supreme Court and Congress, and she never stopped fighting for all Americans to be paid what they deserve,” Biden wrote Monday in a statement released by the White House.
“Because of Lilly’s tireless efforts, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act — a critical step forward in the fight to close the gender and racial wage gaps — became the first bill signed in the Obama-Biden administration,” Biden said. “It was an honor to stand with Lilly as the bill that bears her name was made law.”