Women’s equality advocate Lilly Ledbetter will present a lecture titled “Equal Pay for Equal Work” on Monday, March 2, at 4 p.m., in the Chapel. Ledbetter’s lecture is sponsored by the Days-Massolo Center and is free and open to the public.
For 10 years, Lilly Ledbetter fought to close the gap between women’s and men’s wages. She is known for lobbying Capitol Hill in a historic discrimination case against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, known as Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Although Ledbetter’s case was overturned by the Supreme Court, President Obama nullified the court decision and, on January 29, 2009, signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Ledbetter became the namesake of Barack Obama’s first official piece of legislation as president.
In February 2012, Ledbetter released “Grace and Grit,” a memoir that details her struggle for equal pay. In 2012, she spoke at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. Today, Ledbetter is an advocate for change, traveling the country to encourage women and minorities to claim their civil rights.