Lily Ledbetter Inspires Hard Hatted Women
Maria M. Miranda

Fact: Lily Ledbetter doesn't like peanuts. Especially when they're in her paycheck. For almost 20 years, Lily worked for the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in Alabama. Then one day she discovered that she was being paid less—way less—than her male peers and subordinates.

Another fact: Lily thinks I have a career waiting for me in stand-up comedy. I know this because I had the honor of meeting Lily in September when she spoke at Hard Hatted Women’s annual Women on the Rise event. HHW, a Community Shares organization, has been championing economic justice for women and minorities for 30 years.

Lily fought with her employers about her wage discrimination, taking her case all the way to the U. S. Supreme Court. Ultimately, the court ruled against her, saying that, in wage discrimination cases, an employee has a window of 180 days from the first incident of pay discrimination to take action against his/her employer.

For Lily, 180 days had long gone by. Her lawyers, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her dissention, argued that each paycheck was an incident of pay discrimination and that the 180-day window makes it impossible for employees to seek retribution because pay discrimination is not as easily uncovered or blatant as an incident such as termination. In a place like Goodyear (and many other companies), discussions about salaries are prohibited among employees. If it were not for an anonymous note left in her mailbox with the names and pay levels of her male coworkers scribbled on it, Lily would have never known how poorly she was being treated. That scrap of paper changed her life.

In response to the court ruling that favored businesses over people, the U. S. House of Representatives introduced the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The act does not rewrite law books; it simply reinforces existing anti-discrimination laws and allows an employee to pursue action against a discriminating employer within 180 days of discovery, rather than the first incident, which can be hard to pinpoint. The legislation was supported by a vast cross-section of national and local organizations such as National Organization for Women, the American Association of University Women, the American Federation of Teachers, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Council of Jewish Women.

The Senate failed to pass it.

Now Lily is on the move, all over the country, championing equal pay for equal work. She has become the face of wage discrimination, talking to anyone who will listen about the importance of economic justice. Lily may not work for Goodyear anymore, but the effects of her discrimination still haunt her. The discriminatory wages paid to her by Goodyear have carried over into her pension funds, which are based on her wages as an employee. The less you earn while you work, the less you have when you retire.

After hearing Lily's story, you may never want to buy another Goodyear tire again. But she's beyond tires. Her call to action is this: don't take the struggle for wage equity lying down. Economic justice means women (and men) will earn the wages they deserve for the work that they do. They will be able to afford a decent living, while providing for their families. Families with sustainable incomes and quality jobs can afford healthcare, save money and invest in a home. These are the cornerstones of community and economy.