Lilly Ledbetter, whose name adorns an equal pay law in the USA, has died at the age of 86.

CBS, the BBC's news partner in the US, quoted her children as saying she died peacefully on Saturday surrounded by her family and loved ones.

“Our mother lived an extraordinary life,” said a family statement.

Ms. Ledbetter's activism led to the first bill signed by Barack Obama after he became US president in 2009.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act made it easier for workers to file a lawsuit after discovering they were being discriminated against in pay.

Mr. Obama said the law sends the message “that there are no second-class citizens in our workplaces.”

President Biden, who was vice president during the Obama administration, described Ms. Ledbetter as a “fearless leader and advocate for equal pay.”

He paid tribute to her, saying, “Her fight started in the factory and reached the Supreme Court and Congress” and she “never stopped fighting to ensure that all Americans get what they deserve.”

“Before she was a household name, Lilly was like so many other women in the working world: She worked hard and with dignity, only to find that she was paid less than a man for the same work.”

Biden added that it was “an honor to stand with Lilly as the bill that bears her name was signed into law,” and described the Fair Pay Restoration Act as a “critical step forward in the fight to close the gender and gender gap.” racial wage gaps.”

Ms. Ledbetter worked as a supervisor for tire manufacturer Goodyear in Alabama for nearly 20 years before realizing she was paid less than men doing the same work.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that she had no grounds to sue because her complaint was not filed within six months of the discrimination first occurring. Their law overturned this ruling.

The former president paid tribute on Twitter/X, saying Ms. Ledbetter “never set out to be a trailblazer or a household name. She just wanted to be paid the same as a man for her hard work.”

“Lilly did what so many Americans have done before her: she set high goals for herself and even bigger goals for her children and grandchildren,” Obama said.

Ms. Ledbetter continued her advocacy even after the law was signed.

She received Advertising Week's Future Is Female Lifetime Achievement Award last week, according to Alabama news site AL.com.

A new film about her life called Lilly and starring Patricia Clarkson was recently screened at the Hamptons International Film Festival.