Associated Press: Lilly Ledbetter, an icon of the fight for equal pay, has died at 86

October 14. 2024

National Campaigns Director Deborah Vagins was interviewed by the Associated Press about the passing of fair pay icon Lilly Ledbetter.

“She lost her case and she never saw a dime but she was a tireless advocate for all of us,” said Deborah Vagins, director of Equal Pay Today and the national campaign director of Equal Rights Advocates.

“Every now then, once in a generation, you meet these people who sacrifice everything for something even if it never benefits them,” added Vagins, who met Ledbetter and introduced her to then Sen.-Obama soon after the Supreme Court ruling galvanized the movement for what would become the Ledbetter Act.