Lilly Ledbetter, who sued Goodyear for gender discrimination and fought for equal pay, dies at 86

CNN
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Lilly Ledbetter, whose legal battle over gender pay equity inspired the 2009 Fair Pay Act, has died aged 86.

Ledbetter died of respiratory failure, her family said in a statement on Sunday.

“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,” the statement said.

In the 1990s, after 19 years at Goodyear, Ledbetter learned that she was making thousands of dollars less each month than other – male – managers.

Ledbetter sued Goodyear in 1999 for gender discrimination. She initially won in federal court in 2003 and received $3.8 million in back pay and damages. The decision was later overturned after 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 that Ledbetter should have filed suit within 180 days of the first time Goodyear paid her less than her colleagues. Because Ledbetter missed that window, the court had no reason to sue.

In retirement, Ledbetter became an activist and advocate for gender equality.

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

“That was, I think, the greatest feeling I've ever had,” she told CNN in 2018. “I’ll blame it on me having a son and a daughter.”

Obama praised her on social media.

“Lilly did what so many Americans have done before her: she set high goals for herself and even bigger goals for her children and grandchildren,” he said on X. “Michelle and I are grateful for her advocacy and her friendship, and We send our love and prayers to her family and everyone who continues the fight she started.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also praised Ledbetter's fight for equal pay on social media. “My heart goes out to Lilly Ledbetter and her loved ones as they mourn her death,” he said. “May she rest in peace.”

The AFL-CIO – The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations – described her as a hero. “Lilly Ledbetter simply wanted to be paid the same as her male Goodyear colleagues – and her fight took her to the Supreme Court, Congress and the White House to sign the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. She was a true hero and we extend our deepest condolences to her family.”

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said on social media that Ledbetter's simple phrase “equal pay for equal work” changed his understanding.

“It's shocking that as a CEO, I saw firsthand how big the pay disparity was – not just in my own company, but in so many others we've acquired. Lilly taught me that the fight for equality starts with pay equity. Without it there can be no real equality. “My heart goes out to Lilly’s family,” Benioff wrote.

Ledbetter continued to advocate for equal pay, writing an editorial for CNN in 2019 when Congress was set to debate the Paycheck Fairness Act again, but it failed to pass and has yet to be passed.

“(The pay gap) is the reality I want to share with the young women I meet across the country. While I was in her shoes decades ago, the reality of wage discrimination has not gone away,” she wrote. “One reason for this is that our laws are simply not good enough.”

Representative Chuy Garcia paid his respects to X and reiterated that the fight for equal pay is still ongoing.

“Lilly Ledbetter fought tirelessly for equal pay for men and women. We mourn their loss and continue their fight. As long as Latinas and Black women earn between 51 and 66 cents for every dollar a white man earns, Lilly’s fight is not over,” Garcia wrote.

According to the National Committee on Pay Equity and the Equal Pay Today campaign, starting in 2024, for every dollar a man earns, a woman will receive 84 cents. This is based on earnings data for full-time, year-round employees from the 2022 U.S. Census, the most recent full-year data set available.

When part-time workers and people who are not employed year-round are taken into account, the gender pay gap is even worse at 78 cents on the dollar, said Deborah Vagins, national campaign director for Equal Rights Advocates and director of Equal Pay Today, CNN Marsch reported.

“Lilly,” a film about her life, premiered at the Hamptons Film Festival.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich and Jeanne Sahadi contributed to this report.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated who announced the death of Lilly Ledbetter.