Ledbetter, Plaintiff in Pay Discrimination Case, Backs Obama

Lilly Ledbetter, who took her gender pay discrimination case to the Supreme Court, endorsed Barack Obama for president Wednesday.

Ledbetter sued her former company, Goodyear, for discrimination, charging it with denying her raises because she was a woman. The Supreme Court decided against Ledbetter in a 5-to-4 decision, finding that she had waited too long to make her claim.

Obama’s campaign used the endorsement, made during a forum with Michelle Obama in Richmond, Va., to highlight the Democrat’s appeal to women voters.

“There is only one candidate who has stood up for women like me. Who has consistently fought to help women who are working hard every day for our families and aren’t being paid fairly,” Ledbetter said in a statement.

Ledbetter has been supportive of Democrats this election, speaking at the party’s convention in Denver. Her case prompted Democrats to push for a law that would have changed the deadlines for filing a discrimination claim. The House passed the bill but it stalled due to Republican opposition in the Senate.