U.S. President Barack Obama signed an equal-pay law in the White House on Thursday, the first piece of legislation he autographed as president, the White House said.
The bill is named after Lilly Ledbetter, an Alabama woman who found out her employer, Goodyear, had been paying her less than her male counterparts for years, but she was prevented from suing because of legal limitations in effect at the time, according to a press release from the White House.
The new law effectively nullifies the legal limitations and makes it easier for employees to sue their employers for discrimination in paying them.
"It is fitting that the very first bill that I sign -- the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act -- that it is upholding one of this nation's founding principles: that we are all created equal, and each deserve a chance to pursue our own version of happiness," Obama said upon signing.
Ledbetter joined Obama in the ceremony with Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a group of lawmakers.
The president spoke often of the equal pay issue during his presidential campaign, as did then-rival Hillary Clinton.
However, the new law doesn't mean a mandatory requirement for equal pay.
In average, a U.S. woman still earns just 78 cents for every dollar a man earns.