This article highlights who Lilly Ledbetter is, and discusses the (bad) 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, and what the new law means to workers and employers.
Who is Lilly Ledbetter?
Lilly Ledbetter (note: not spelled "Lily") worked as supervisor for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company at its Gadsden, Alabama plant from 1979 until 1998 when she took an early retirement due to the plant closing.
Throughout her career she was subjected to sexual harassment, retaliation, and wage discrimination. Just before she retired, someone anonymously slipped her a note that compared her salary to that of three other male workers.
Although Lilly suspected she was not being paid equally, she had signed an agreement when she was hired that she would not discuss salaries with other workers. Until the note, she had no way of knowing she was being underpaid because she was a woman.
Lilly Ledbetter’s Legal Battles
A long and complicated legal battled ensured. Ledbetter won in the District Court and was awarded about $3 million dollars (the award was later reduced to $300,000).Goodyear appealed and the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit overturned the ruling. The Ledbetter case eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court where it ruled in favor of Goodyear.
A timeline of Ledbetter’s employment and legal filings and their outcomes can be found in “Personal Biography of Lilly Ledbetter.”
