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Lilly Ledbetter, whose legal battle for equal pay between men and women inspired the 2009 Fair Pay Act, has died at the age of 86.

Ledbetter died of respiratory failure, her family said in a statement Sunday.

“Lilly Ledbetter passed away peacefully last night at the age of 86. She was surrounded by her family and loved ones. Our mother lived an extraordinary life,” the statement said.

In the 1990s, after working for Goodyear for nineteen years, Ledbetter discovered that she was making thousands of dollars less each month than other male managers.

Ledbetter sued Goodyear in 1999 for gender discrimination. She initially won in federal court in 2003 and was awarded $3.8 million in back pay and damages. The decision was later reversed after the tire giant appealed.

The case eventually ended up before the Supreme Court in 2007, which upheld the lower court’s ruling. In a 5-4 decision, the justices ruled that Ledbetter should have filed suit within 180 days of the very first time Goodyear paid her less than her peers. Because Ledbetter missed that window, he had no reason to file a lawsuit, according to the court.

In retirement, Ledbetter became an activist and advocate for gender equality.

When Barack Obama became president, the first bill he signed was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.

“That was the most amazing emotion I’ve ever had,” she told CNN in 2018. “I’m going to put it behind me to have a son and a daughter.”

Obama praised her on social media.

“Lilly did what so many Americans before her have done: set the bar high for herself and even higher for her children and grandchildren,” he said on X. “Michelle and I are grateful for her advocacy and her friendship, and we send our love and prayers for her family and all who continue the fight she started.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also paid tribute to Ledbetter’s fight for pay equality on social media. “My heart is with Lilly Ledbetter and her loved ones as they mourn her passing,” he said. “May she rest in peace.”

The AFL-CIO – the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations – described her as a hero. “Lilly Ledbetter simply wanted to be paid the same as her male Goodyear colleagues – and her fight took her to the Supreme Court, Congress and the White House to sign the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. She was a true hero and we send our deepest condolences to her family.”

Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, said on social media that Ledbetter’s simple phrase “equal pay for equal work” had changed his understanding.

“It’s shocking that as CEO I saw first-hand the magnitude of the pay disparity – not just within my own company, but at so many other companies we’ve acquired. Lilly taught me that the fight for equality starts with equal pay. Without that there can be no real equality. My heart goes out to Lilly’s family,” Benioff wrote.

Ledbetter continued to advocate for equal pay, writing an op-ed for CNN in 2019 when Congress was set to again debate the Paycheck Fairness Act, which has not passed and has not yet been passed.

“(The wage gap) is a reality that I feel a responsibility to share with the young women I meet across the country. While I was in their shoes decades ago, the reality of wage discrimination has not gone away,” she wrote. “One reason for that is that our laws are just not good enough.”

Rep. Chuy Garcia paid his respects to X and reiterated that the fight for pay equality continues.

“Lilly Ledbetter fought tirelessly for equal pay for men and women. We mourn her loss and continue her fight. As long as Latinas and black women earn 51 to 66 cents for every dollar a white man earns, Lilly’s fight is not over,” Garcia wrote.

As of 2024, a woman will be paid 84 cents for every dollar a man earns, according to the National Committee on Pay Equity and the Equal Pay Today campaign. That’s based on income data for full-time, year-round workers from the 2022 U.S. Census, the most recent full-year data set available.

When part-time workers and those who don’t work year-round are included, the gender pay gap is even wider, at 78 cents on the dollar, said Deborah Vagins, national campaign director for Equal Rights Advocates and director of Equal Pay Today, CNN reported in March.

“Lilly,” a film about her life, premiered at the Hamptons Film Festival.

CNN’s Vanessa Yurkevich and Jeanne Sahadi contributed to this report.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported who announced Lilly Ledbetter’s death.