Lilly Ledbetter is still getting used to being famous. The 73-year-old resident of Jacksonville, Ala. became a cause celeb after her case against former employer Goodyear for discriminatory pay reached the Supreme Court in 2007. The first piece of legislation President Obama signed bears her name. She counts among her friends some of the nation’s most prominent female legislators, takes calls from Hillary Clinton, and lunches with Rep. Carolyn Maloney.
But Ledbetter, who sued Goodyear after learning she was grossly underpaid for years compared to her male counterparts, still seems surprised to be known. “I hear my name, it just rings in my head,” she told Yeas & Nays. “I think, I just cannot believe this is me, but it is.”
When Ledbetter, two years away from retirement at Goodyear, received an anonymous note tipping her off to the pay discrepancy, she was “devastated, humiliated, and embarrassed that I had been done this way,” she said. “I really wanted to run and hide, but I couldn’t do that.” When it dawned on her that not only had her salary been unfairly low, but her Social Security benefits would also be less than deserved, Ledbetter decided to sue. “I thought about letting it go, but I couldn’t,” she said. “Because it was not right.”
Ledbetter lost her case but won star-status in certain political circles, plus a new career as an activist and writer. (She was in town Wednesday night to sign copies of her book “Grace and Grit.”) She’s lobbied Congress for a paycheck fairness measure and appeared on Rachel Maddow’s show this week. (“She is so super at her job,” Ledbetter declared.)
Ledbetter says that if she were a 22-year-old college grad today, she would pursue a career in politics. “Right when I went to Goodyear, I was given an aptitude test,” she said. “My strongest area was public speaking and politics. I’d probably go down a different road than I did, to make a difference.”
