Lilly Ledbetter, equal pay and women's rights activist, dies at 86

According to a family representative, women's rights activist Lilly Ledbetter has died. She was 86.

Ledbetter, best known for her advocacy for equal pay for women, died Saturday evening from complications of respiratory failure. She was born and raised in Alabama.

“She was surrounded by her family and loved ones,” her family said in a statement on Sunday. “Our mother lived an extraordinary life.”

Ledbetter's fight for equal pay began in the 1990s when she received an anonymous letter saying she was being paid far less than her male colleagues working at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in Gadsden, Alabama, on a similar or had less seniority and similar experience She worked as an area manager.

“I took a job that was normally considered a man’s job. I don’t agree with that term,” Ledbetter said in a 2019 interview with Forbes. “It's a job. Whether man, African American, Latino, fat, thin, whatever. If they’re the most qualified for that job, they should get it, and they should get the money for it.”

So began years of legal disputes that reached the Supreme Court. Ultimately, Ledbetter lost the lawsuit against Goodyear because the Supreme Court ruled that she had missed the deadline to file her lawsuit. But Democrats in Congress, spurred by a dissenting opinion from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, fought to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

The law makes it easier for victims of wage discrimination to file lawsuits and shortens the statute of limitations that previously applied to companies.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was the first bill that Barack Obama signed as president in 2009.

“Lilly did what so many Americans have done before her: She aimed high for herself and set even bigger goals for her children and grandchildren,” former president and first lady Michelle Obama said in a statement on Sunday. “Michelle and I are grateful for her advocacy and friendship, and we send our love and prayers to her family and everyone who continues the fight she started.”

Last week, Ledbetter was honored with Advertising Week's first-ever Future Is Female Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes the achievements of groundbreaking women. A film about her life, “Lilly,” starring Patricia Clarkson as Ledbetter, also recently premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival.