Lilly Ledbetter, an icon of the fight for equal pay, has died at 86

AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Lilly Ledbetter, a former Alabama factory manager whose lawsuit against her employer made her an icon of the equal pay movement and led to landmark wage discrimination legislation, has died at 86. Ledbetter’s lawsuit against Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. ultimately failed when the Supreme Court ruled against her in 2007. But two years later, former President Barack Obama signed into the law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which strengthened the rights of workers to sue for pay discrimination.