Grace and Grit: My Fight for Equal Pay and Fairness at Goodyear and Beyond

This is a well-written, gripping memoir (until you get to the yawn-inducing legal stuff at the end ;-}) of an earnest American woman's life & times: from her childhood to her yearned-for high school sweetheart marriage & adjustments + kids + that crazy isolated too young & not enough money motherhood, on into the '70s when she tries her hand at tax preparation & with her affinity for numbers rapidly rises to office manager & then area manager.Still, the Goodyear plant in Gadsden, Alabama was THE place most everyone in that area wanted to work at cuz it meant a better, steadier way of life (a myth cuz layoff rumors were frequent & used to keep workers 'in line') even if the process of making tires was a major hazard to workers' health no matter their gender which was, of course, 100% male. However, those males' attitude toward this uppity blonde (who was no ditz... she'd just had no brothers to contend with!) for taking one of their jobs & then expecting to supervise 'em... well... that just wasn't right, so... almost to a man they turned that plant into a gender hostile workplace.I lost count of all the ways those workers, especially her immediate superiors, made her their hazing, sexual prey upon whom they acted out (with impunity, mind you!) their own perceived fears & frustrations with management, women/wives in general, & orders from higher up.It took all of Lilly Ledbetter's career there, much of her marriage & most of her health to survive the obstacle course they put her through, even as other supervisors were handing her awards. It all culminated when a worker ahead of her let a piece of machinery close behind him, trapping her beneath it, unable to release herself until he chose. At that point, the brilliant idea occurred to our intrepid heroine that she really didn't have to put up with this stuff!What finally made her angry, however, was a handwritten note left where she'd find it on which were enumerated her salary along with those of her co-supervisors - the same ones who'd been hired on with her, all those years ago. That's what got her to a lawyer & an alphabet soup of regulatory commissions, then on to a jury trial & a positive verdict which Goodyear got dismissed. Then on to the Supreme Court, eventually standing beside President Obama in 2009 as he signed into law THE LILLY LEDBETTER FAIR PAY RESTORATION ACT.As a secretary, I quit working in such toxic workplaces after a few years, yet I totally got why one of Goodyear's rare women workers, Sharon, quit floor supervising to go back to being a 'mere' secretary: "... I didn't complain, because I was a single mother with a handicapped child, and I knew my job would be in jeopardy if I started..." p.187.I kept wondering, all the way through, how would these same men have reacted were other men in other workplaces to do to their wives, as they themselves were doing to Lilly, & if anything's changed now?

I started reading this book to understand the movie that is being filmed based on her story. I am grateful that Lily will receive the recognition of her accomplishments in life, from living in poverty to having a bill signed by Barack Obama, using her name for women's rights. It is a testimony of what one person can achieve.

As a woman, I have experienced the occasional sexual discrimination, but it's a walk in the park compared to what Lilly Ledbetter endured. Most people would have left their company after years of tormenting. It's no wonder Lilly was only a small handful of female managers in her area, even in the late 90s.The prose is fairly easy to follow and to-the-point. My only complaint is that Lilly sometimes comes off as a little whiny. However, when she starts feeling sorry for herself, she does tend to balance it out such as when she feels overwhelmed with her mother's behavior, but then feels guilty about it.I think this is a good read for anyone who thinks everyone's got a fair shake these days. You'll be surprised.

I got to meet Lilly Ledbetter in Kansas City last year. She is my hero. The book sounds just like her for she must have dictated it. The book is powerful. I am a civil rights attorney, and I told her that I understood all the hardships and courage involved with being a civil rights plaintiff. I ordered the paper back as well as the Kindle version. I love the book and Lilly Ledbetter. I told her about the race, sex and pregancy discrimination case I handled recorded in my book on Kindle and Amazon.com titled WOMEN OF COURAGE: THE RIGHTS OF SINGLE MOTHERS AND THEIR CHILDREN INSPIRED BY CRYSTAL CHAMBERS A NEW ROSA PARKS. We helped change federal law as well.

This book about Lilly Ledbetter's discrimination at Goodyear in Gadsden, Alabama was very well written and stirs up a lot of emotion. It is hard to believe that in the 90's and even now, women are still treated as if they are less than their male counterparts. Lilly is respectable because she fought for something she believed in and did not back down to the Goodyear bullies. She did what so many women do...continue to work hard and prove your worth to the company that is so obviously mistreating you. Lilly fought for what she believed in and did not take a buyout from Goodyear so that they could shut her up. She took the hard way out, but thanks to her, women are better protected in the workplace. Shame on our Supreme Court for not holding Goodyear accountable for what was obviously an unfair business practice. We still have a long way to go, but if more women start speaking up as they see wrongdoing in their place of employment, we will chip away at the inequities. Thank goodness she went to Jon Goldfarb, a great attorney in Birmingham, to help her fight for equal pay and to try and stop the mistreatment of women in the workplace. You won't want to put the book down. I'm glad I read the book and I thank God for women like Lilly!

This is a book that I only read because it was one of my AAUW book club. All the members of the club were glad that we had selected it as a book club read. Personally, I would recommend it to any teenage girl to understand what life was like. (Actually some of this is still current, women only earn $ . 75 to every male $1.00. That means a women in her lifetime today will earn a million less than a male.) I would think a high school/adfult bookclub also would learn something reading this book.

I saw Lilly Ledbetter talking about her life on TV. She peaked my interest. I liked her book. She does have grace and grit, but her energy is what I most admired. In the end I feel she never was fighting for her own equality, but that of woman who come after her. She has made a difference. This book is inspirational.