Wage Discrimination Lawsuit

Wage discrimination is most commonly associated with the gender pay gap between men and women. While women deal with the systematic problem of unequal pay, many others also experience compensation discrimination at work.

Here are a few types of wage discrimination:

Sex
Gender discrimination is the most widely known type of wage discrimination. In nearly every occupation, women are paid less than men for doing the same job.

Race
Racial wage gaps remain in the United States, despite narrowing over the years. Black and Hispanic workers often get paid less than their white and Asian counterparts.

Age
It is against the law for people to pay older workers less than younger workers if they are doing a substantially similar job. Age discrimination laws protect adults who are over 40.

Disability
Those with disabilities often have a difficult time finding employment and are almost always paid lower than their counterparts.

Religion
The law also forbids compensation discrimination based on religion.

Wage discrimination has been the center of studies for decades. The studies often paint a revealing picture of the state of unequal pay in the country.

On average, women are paid around 80 cents for every dollar the typical man is paid.

Gender wage discrimination affects nearly every field without regard for education. The Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that women in hundreds of different kinds of jobs in different fields still experienced wage discrimination. This includes fields dominated by women. For example, far more women teach elementary and middle school, but men still take home more money.

Black and Hispanic women experience the largest pay gaps. Gender wage discrimination is exacerbated when race is taken into account. The Economic Policy Institute found that black and Hispanic women are paid “substantially less” than white men.

“Compared to non-Hispanic white men, white non-Hispanic women are paid 81 cents on the dollar and Asian women are paid 88 cents on the dollar,” the institute wrote. “But the penalty is much larger for black and Hispanic women, who are paid only 65 cents and 59 cents on the white male dollar, respectively.”

Workers with disabilities earn about 37% less than workers without disabilities, or about 63 cents for every dollar. In some states, the disparity is even higher, according to the American Institutes for Research. The disparity also increases dramatically with higher educational attainment.

Over the years, the wage gap has slowly narrowed. However, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research estimates women would not reach pay parity until 2059 if the gap closed at the pace it has for the last 50 years. Hispanic women would have to wait until 2248 and black women would have to wait until 2124.

Proving compensation discrimination based on sex is notoriously difficult. Despite hundreds of complaints sent to the EEOC every year, only a fraction actually lead to a resolution.

The reason is that an employer can argue the difference in pay was justified by the exclusions in the Equal Pay Act. For example, an employer can say that the difference in wages between a man and woman with a substantially equal job is based on the quality of output or seniority.

The Equal Pay Act also says a difference in pay is acceptable as long as it is based “on any other factor other than sex.” This means an employer can say that the man asked for a raise when the woman did not or took a few more courses relevant to the job.

Finding out the salary of a counterpart is also difficult yet important in proving wage discrimination.

Although wage discrimination cases are difficult to prove, many people have successfully brought claims against discriminating employers. These are a few examples.

Heidi Wilson Vs. Citicorp

In 2009, Heidi Wilson was promoted to a managerial position at Citicorp, a subsidiary of Citibank, but did not receive a bonus like her male predecessor. After being bypassed for a bonus again in 2011, she requested a market analysis on the company and was subsequently fired.

Wilson sued the company under the Equal Pay Act and received a check for nearly $240,000 in back pay.

Kangela Moore Vs. New York City

Kangela Moore worked as a school safety agent for more than two decades until she found out that she was making $7,000 less than men working similar jobs. She sued the city along with 5,000 other school safety agents. The city eventually settled the class-action lawsuit for $38 million.

Lawry’s Restaurants Class-Action Lawsuit

Men have successfully filed wage discrimination lawsuits as well. In 2009, Lawry’s Restaurants agreed to a settlement of more than $1 million for allegedly failing to hire men into food server positions.

“Sex discrimination, against men and women alike, continues to be a problem in the 21st century workplace,” EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru said in a statement at the time. “This case should remind corporate America that employment decisions must be based on merit and ability to do the job – not on gender stereotypes.”