Constitutional Law

Equal Pay Leader Addresses Denver Convention

Lily Ledbetter, a leading voice for pay equity in America, addressed the DNC Convention in Denver last night, sounding a call for a nation committed “to fairness and equality.” Ledbetter, a former Goodyear Tire Company worker who led a legal challenge against the company charging it with paying her less than her male co-workers, introduced herself to conventioneers as a “grandmother from Alabama” honored to address the national audience on Women’s Equality Day. Ledbetter told the attendees that the “the fight for equality if not over,” citing her legal fight with Goodyear as an example. Ledbetter’s legal challenged ended in defeat at the U.S. Supreme Court with a ruling that sided with Goodyear. The high court concluded that Ledbetter’s lawsuit was not timely enough.

“My job demanded a lot, and I gave it 100 percent,” Ledbetter told the Convention. “I kept up with every one of my male co-workers. But toward the end of my 19 years at Goodyear, I began to suspect that I wasn’t getting paid as much as men doing the same job.” When Ledbetter sued the company, a jury agreed with her with discrimination claim. “But they [Goodyear] appealed, all the way to the Supreme Court, and in a 5-4 decision our highest court sided with big business,” she said. A transcript of Ledbetter’s speech is here.

Also, addressing last night’s gathering in Denver, Mass. Gov. Deval L. Patrick (D), and a former member of the ACS Board of Directors, described his hardscrabble upbringing in Chicago and his commitment to fighting poverty and for providing equally opportunity for all Americans.  

Full post as published by ACS Blog on August 27, 2008 (boomark / email).