Ledbetter began working for Goodyear Tire Co. in 1979; he had been working there for about twenty years and there was no job he couldn't do. In 1998, she received an anonymous tip that she was being paid much less than the male worker. She was paid $44,700 per year while male workers were paid 25% more (Reah, 2008). Goodyear has banned its employees from discussing their pay. Ledbetter took the situation to court. The discrimination violated Title VII which prohibits discrimination in the workforce based on race and sex (NWLC, 2013). After filing a complaint with the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), her case went to trial and the jury awarded her back pay and approximately $3.3 million in compensatory and punitive damages for the extreme nature of the wage discrimination to which she had been subjected. (NWLC, 2013). Goodyear stated that “Ledbetter should have filed a pay discrimination claim within 180 days of the first discriminatory paycheck even if he had no knowledge of the discrimination” (Reah, 2008); the Supreme Court accepted Goodyear's request and ruled against it