Grace and grit
Subtitle: my fight for equal pay and fairness at Goodyear and beyond
By: Lilly Ledbetter with Lanier Scott Isom
Contributors: Isom, Lanier Scott
Edition: AAUW special edition.
Publisher: Crown Archetype
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 285
ISBN-13: 9780385347167
Subjects: Sex discrimination against women; History; Women; Biography; Law and legislation; Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
Description: "Married at seventeen, Lilly soon had two children. Depressed about the poverty her family was living in, and the death of her dreams of a bigger life, she went against her husband's wishes and got a job. When, after years of hard work and ambition, Lilly was hired for her dream job--a management position at the Goodyear Tire factory in Gadsden, Alabama--it was heady stuff. As a child, Lilly had been extremely jealous of a classmate whose father worked at Goodyear, because she had all the things--new clothes, vacations, a big house--that Lilly did not. Little did she know her dream would turn into a daily nightmare of sexual harassment. Fondled on the factory floor, propositioned in evaluation meetings, transferred between departments when she complained, Lilly was disheartened but soldiered on, willing to deal with the daily indignities in order to provide for her family. She did so until the day in 1998 when an anonymous note revealed that after devoting 19 years to Goodyear, Lilly was earning thousands of dollars per year less than men in her position. Angry, insulted, and hurt, Lilly took action. She brought a sexual discrimination suit against the company and won, only to heartbreakingly lose on appeal. Eight years later her case was heard before the Supreme Court, where, in a 5-4 vote, she lost on a technicality. Realizing the issue was bigger than she was, Lilly continued acting as a tireless advocate for equal pay, right up to the day she stood behind President Obama and watched him sign her namesake legislation" -- Publisher's description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Possom trot; title: Marrying Charles; title: Going to work; title: Becoming a rubber worker; title: Lighthearted, light-footed Lilly; title: Up to my knees in alligators; title: Holding the tiger by the tail; title: Protecting my good name; title: Ms. Ledbetter goes to Washington; title: Becoming the grandmother of equal pay; title: My speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention; title: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's bench announcement, May 29, 2007; title: President Obama's speech upon the signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, January 29, 2009; title: The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act; title: The Paycheck Fairness Act.