‘Lilly,’ The Story Of Fair Pay Activist Lilly Ledbetter, Debuts At Hamptons International Film Festival

Rachel Feldman’s directorial debut film stars Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award-winning actress Patricia Clarkson as Lilly Ledbetter. Ledbetter took her fight for equal pay all the way to the United States Supreme Court and then to the United States Congress. Her work resulted in the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, the first piece of legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama.

The film “Lilly” debuted at Guild Hall in East Hampton at the Hamptons International Film Festival on October 10. Ledbetter died on October 12 at the age of 86. She worked for 19 years as a night supervisor at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in Alabama. She took the job in 1979 at age 39 to help her family, which was struggling to make ends meet.

When nearing retirement, Ledbetter received an anonymous note alerting her that the salary of her male coworkers, who held the same position, was 40 percent higher than hers. Ledbetter filed a charge with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Birmingham, Alabama. The lower federal court awarded her $3.8 million, but Goodyear appealed the verdict.

Ledbetter’s case went to the United States Supreme Court with the help of young civil rights lawyer Jon Goldfarb. She lost her case in the Supreme Court with a 5 to 4 vote. It was ruled she was not within the 180-day statute of limitations for filing an equal-pay lawsuit regarding pay discrimination.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in her dissent, in a rare occurrence reading from the bench, “The Court does not comprehend, or is indifferent to, the insidious way in which women can be victims of pay discrimination. The ball is in Congress’s court to correct this Court’s parsimonious reading of Title VII.” 

Following that outcome, she was met by the American Civil Liberties Union, The National Women’s Law Center, and several other organizations that urged her to come to Washington, D.C., to continue the fight.

“The movie will not be for me, but it will be for the young people and the people out there today working across this nation,” Ledbetter told James Lane Post in a 2021 interview.

“Lilly” is an extraordinary journey of an ordinary woman who refused to accept the status quo and underscores the transformative impact of one individual’s courage. It is a timely movie about a working-class woman who saw a wrong that needed to be fixed. When she realized she could no longer rectify the issue for herself, she became determined to help others, becoming the voice and the face of fair pay. As Lilly says in the film, “Women are the backbone of society.”

“I played such an array of characters in my life, in my career, but I rarely had the chance to play a truly great American woman,” Patricia Clarkson told James Lane Post in a recent interview. “It was so easy to say yes, but it’s tough to play one of your heroes. I knew it would be quite a journey. It was intriguing and thrilling and emotional for me to step into this part. To take on Lilly Ledbetter.”

“We rarely tell these stories,” said Clarkson. “Think about it… We’ve had Erin Brockovich, Sally Field in ‘Norma Rae.’ We rarely tell these stories anymore of truly great women who changed the landscape of our country.”

The ongoing struggle for gender equality and fair pay underscores the importance of Lilly’s story in today’s fight for workplace equity. Today, on average, women working full-time, year-round, are paid 84 percent of what men are paid, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

“When I’m gone, I want the last thing they say, ‘She did make a difference,’” said Ledbetter.

A reception at The Baker House 1650 followed the Hamptons International Film Festival screening. Partners included 1919 Investment Counsel, The Refinery Hotel, Heineken, Wölffer Estate Vineyard, Simple Vodka, James Lane Post, and Hawthorns Gin.