US Women’s Soccer and the Fight for Equal Pay

The battle over equal pay for women and men in the United States has crossed every industry. It should come as no surprise to anybody that women are still paid less than men, even when they are performing the same job at the same functions. This battle has even crossed into major league sports and has become particularly focused on the US women’s soccer team.

What Is Happening With The US Women’s Soccer Team

The US women’s soccer team players filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Central District of California in March 2019. This was just months after the women’s team won the World Cup championship, and the US men’s team failed to qualify for the World Cup.

Since this lawsuit has been filed, there has been significant media coverage focused on this issue and how much less the women players are paid than the men. However, federal Judge R. Gary Klausner rejected the women’s team’s argument over receiving lower pay. The judge also dismissed a claim of unequal working conditions that revolved around the number of turf versus real grass soccer pitches.

A spokesperson for the women’s players, Molly Levinson, said that “We are shocked and disappointed with today’s decision, but we will not give up our hard work for equal pay.”

The lawsuit argued that the female players of US women soccer have been paid consistently less than their male counterparts. This has been particularly contentious because the performance of the female players has arguably been superior to that of the male players.

When dismissing the claim, Judge Klausner pointed out differences in the structure of the women’s contracts from the men’s contracts and agreements they made in collective bargaining. The judge said that the Women’s National Team rejected an offer “to be paid under the same pay-to-play structure as the MNT [Men’s National Team] and … the WNT was willing to forgo higher bonuses for other benefits, such as greater base compensation and the guarantee of a higher number of contracted players.”

Looking away from sports, we know that pay discrimination is still a major problem throughout this country. An NPR study found that women make only $0.80 on the dollar compared male coworkers in the same job with the same responsibilities. Under federal law, the Equal Pay Act requires that women and men in the same workplace be paid equally for equal work. In these cases, the jobs do not have to be completely identical, just substantially similar.

We Are Ready To Help

If you have been treated unfairly at work or received unequal pay because of your gender, you need to speak to an attorney as soon as possible. At Rager & Yoon – Employment Lawyers, our knowledgeable and experienced team will conduct a thorough investigation into your incident and work to secure any compensation you are entitled to. This can include front and back pay, any due promotions, possible punitive damages, and more. When you need a Los Angeles gender discrimination attorney, you can contact us by clicking here or calling us at 310-527-6994 for a free consultation.