Courtesy Lilly Ledbetter
The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of the University of Alabama System, has announced that the College of Business (COB) will host Lilly Ledbetter, a longtime advocate for gender and pay equality, on campus at the Chan Auditorium. Ledbetter’s talk will be from 2:30 – 3:30 pm, April 7, and is open to all.
Ledbetter worked for more than 10 years to close the gap between women's and men's wages, taking her battle all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where she lobbied Capitol Hill in a historic discrimination case against Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. Ledbetter won a jury verdict of more than $3 million after having filed a gender pay discrimination suit in federal court, but the Supreme Court later overturned the lower court's ruling.
Despite her defeat, she continued her fight until the Supreme Court decision was nullified when President Barack Obama signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. The Act amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1974. The legislation is intended to remedy unlawful employment practices when an employee is affected by application of a discriminatory compensation decision, including each time wages resulting in whole or in part from such a decision are paid.
The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act of 2009 was the first piece of legislation signed by President Obama after taking office.
Ledbetter hails from Jacksonville, AL, and is the recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree from the City University of New York School of Law. She has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame, and in 2012 served as a convention speaker at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.
The advocate is a distinguished guest speaker at colleges and universities around the country and has made numerous television appearances, including the Rachel Maddow Show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, the CBS Morning Show, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, the Ed Schultz Show, The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert and PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton.
