Equal pay icon Lilly Ledbetter dies at 86

Lilly Ledbetter, the American woman whose fight for equal pay became a landmark case in the struggle for gender equality, died at 86.

Born in Jacksonville, Alabama, in 1938, Ledbetter began her career relatively late, working as a supervisor at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company after being a housewife. It wasn’t until 1998, more than 20 years into her employment, that she discovered an anonymous note in her mailbox revealing a shocking pay disparity. Ledbetter was earning $3,727 per month, but according to the memo, 14 male colleagues in the same role were earning between $559 and $1,509 more each month. “When I saw that, it took my breath away. I felt humiliated. I felt degraded,” Ledbetter later recalled.

In 1999, Ledbetter filed a lawsuit against Goodyear. In 2003, a federal jury in Alabama ruled in her favor, awarding her $3.8 million in back pay and damages. However, Goodyear appealed, and the case eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2007, the justices ruled against Ledbetter, stating she should have filed her claim within 180 days of receiving her first paycheck, which was less than her male counterparts.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a champion of gender equality, issued a passionate dissent, arguing that the 180-day limit was unreasonable and unjust. "It is unfair to expect people to file complaints before they even know they are being discriminated against," Ginsburg wrote, calling on Congress to act.

In 2009, Congress responded with the passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which extended the filing period to two years. Then-President Barack Obama signed the legislation into law on January 29, 2009, marking the first bill he signed as president. Ledbetter went on to speak at the Democratic National Conventions in both 2008 and 2012, and her autobiography was published in South Korea. A film based on her life, Lilly, premiered in the U.S. on October 10.

Former U.S. President Obama paid tribute to Ledbetter in a statement on Sunday, saying, "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." Despite Ledbetter’s legacy, CNN reported that the median annual earnings for women in the U.S. remain at 84% of what their male counterparts earn, highlighting the persistent gender pay gap.


Jeong-Soo Hong hong@donga.com