Posted: Wednesday, May 23, 2012 --- 4:17p.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Equal pay pioneer Lilly Ledbetter is campaigning for Democrat Tom Barrett and speaking out against Gov. Scott Walker's repeal of a law making it easier for women to sue over discrimination.

Ledbetter said at a Wednesday news conference that she was appalled when she learned Walker signed a bill repealing the nearly three-year-old law that allowed women to sue for damages in state court.

No lawsuit was ever brought under the law, but Ledbetter and other advocates say that is because employers made sure they were in compliance to avoid being sued.

Barrett has been using the issue against Walker in the campaign.

The first bill President Barack Obama signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act making it easier for workers to sue for pay discrimination.

Copyright 2012. The Associated Press.