Lilly Ledbetter, equal pay activist, dead at 86 [Video]

Women’s rights activist and Alabama native Lilly Ledbetter died this weekend at 86.Ledbetter was best known for her fight for equal pay. She worked at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber factory in Gadsden for nearly 20 years before getting a tip that she was making almost half that of her male counterparts.She sued Goodyear for pay discrimination, a case that made it to the Supreme Court in 2007. Though she lost that case, Congress passed the bipartisan Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009.Ledbetter stood next to former President Barack Obama shortly after the bill was signed and spoke to the audience.”To watch you sign a bill that bears my name, the bill that will help women and others fight pay discrimination in the workplace, is truly overwhelming,” Ledbetter said. “Goodyear will never have to pay me what it cheated me out of. In fact, I will never see a …