Calhoun County native Lilly McDaniel Ledbetter is a worker’s-rights activist and equal-pay advocate whose nine-year quest for equal compensation from longtime employer Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in Gadsden resulted in the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, the first bill signed into law by Pres. Barack Obama. The law overturned a 2007 Supreme Court decision and clarified the time period during which employees can pursue claims under antidiscrimination laws. She was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2011.
