A figure for gender equality in the United States has passed away. Women’s rights activist Lilly Ledbetter died on Saturday, October 12 at the age of 86, according to a representative of her family, several US media outlets, including NBC News, are reporting.
Famous for defending equal pay between women and men, she died of respiratory failure in Alabama, “surrounded by her family and loved ones,” her family said in a statement released Sunday. “Our mother lived an extraordinary life,” her children added.
Her activism led to the very first bill signed by Barack Obama in 2009, just weeks after his victory in the US presidential election in late 2008. “Lilly Ledbetter never sought to be a pioneer or a celebrity. She simply wanted to be paid the same as a man for her job,” the former US president wrote on his X account (ex-Twitter) on Monday after the announcement of his death.
“Michelle (Obama) and I (…) send all our love and prayers to her family and to all those who continue the fight she started,” he concluded.
Lilly Ledbetter’s struggle began in the 1990s when, in a supervisory position at Goodyear Tire & Rubber, she received an anonymous letter informing her that she was being paid much less than her male colleagues who had seniority and similar or lesser experience Gadsden , Alabama.
A film about his life was presented last week
A legal battle ensued, in which she won her case in 2003 when the federal court in Alabama ordered the tire company to pay nearly $4 million to its former employee. In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that she had no grounds for prosecution because her complaint was not filed within six months of the initial discrimination.
It is this 180-day statute of limitations that was attacked by the “Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act” signed by Barack Obama to facilitate legal action by American employees who consider themselves victims of wage discrimination.
After her retirement, Lilly Ledbetter tirelessly continued her commitment to gender equality, notably earning her induction into the “National Women’s Hall of Fame” in 2011, a museum dedicated to women who have shaped American history, along with Rosa Parks, Aretha Franklin and Oprah Winfrey. In early October, she received the very first “Future is Female Lifetime Achievement Award”, which recognizes the achievements of pioneering women.
A film about her life called “Lilly,” starring actress Patricia Clarkson, was shown at the Hamptons International Film Festival.
