The antecedents of the case were posed when Lilly Ledbetter , a production supervisor at a Goodyear tire plant in Alabama , filed an equal-pay lawsuit regarding pay discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission , six months before her early retirement in 1998 .
Lilly Ledbetter , a production supervisor at a Goodyear tire plant in Alabama , filed an equal-pay lawsuit seeking back pay for pay discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 .