EEOC Announces Major Pay Discrimination Settlement
Multi-state diesel engine manufacturer Cummins, Inc. agreed to pay $77,500 to settle a pay discrimination suit out of court. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a Nashville worker received less than her male co-workers. Cummins officials reviewed the woman’s salary and concluded that there was a gender gap. But they refused to adjust the woman’s pay. S part of the settlement, Cummins, which also operates in Illinois, agreed to two years of court supervision.
“Employers should provide men and women in the same workplace with equal pay for equal work” because it’s not only fair, “it’s the law,” proclaimed EEOC Memphis Regional Attorney Faye Williams. “Technological and legal advances have made equal pay cases easier than ever to win,” remarked Chicago employment law attorney Jonathan Goldman. “But the EEOC still does not take on this issue very frequently.”
The Equal Opportunity Commission, or a similar state agency, usually has first crack at unequal pay and other employment discrimination cases, he explained.
First file an unequal pay claim with the EEOC before filing in court in order to fully exhaust administrative remedies. There are occasions when the EEOC will take these claims to court, but those occasions are rare. Once the EEOC concluded its investigation, it will issue a Right to Sue letter, which gives the employee 90 days to file in court. When attorneys take these cases, technology often comes into play. Until fairly recently, large companies could bury claimants in papers during discovery. There may be a smoking gun in there somewhere, but it was almost impossible to find. Now, attorneys can feed documents into high-speed scanners, enter search terms, and easily view relevant documents.
If you bring an unequal pay claim in Chicago, the law is on your side.
The Windy City recently passed an ordinance which bans salary history inquiries. That issue may seem unrelated to pay discrimination, but there’s actually a very close link. When they start their careers, many women accept lower wages than their male counterparts. The pay gap gets even larger over time. A woman’s salary may increase, but not as much as a man’s. So, in an unequal pay case, it may not be necessary to look beyond the initial interview and resume requirements. If there is anything illegal, substantial compensation may be available.
That compensation generally includes both back pay, and will require future pay adjustments to match male employees performing the same work. These lost wages are from the date of employment to the current date. A judge will award a reasonable amount of money that the claimant would have earned had she stayed at that job and earned an equal wage. Contact the lawyers at Goldman & Ehrlich to discuss your case.