Equal Pay Act

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By: Matthew J. Gagnon

Seyfarth Synopsis: Government agencies and private plaintiffs’ counsel alike send a clear message: employers must take pay equity seriously. One way employers can address this message is by considering periodic audits of their pay practices and/or investigations of any unexplainable pay gaps or irregularities. Employers are often concerned about how those audits and investigations could be…

Continue Reading Key Developments In Equal Pay Litigation: Maintaining Privilege Over Pay Equity Audits And Investigations

By: Matthew J. Gagnon

Seyfarth Synopsis: One issue that has consistently divided the federal courts is whether an equal pay plaintiff can establish a prima faciecase of wage discrimination by pointing to a single comparator of the opposite sex who is paid more, even where other comparators are paid the same or even less. Two Appellate Courts recently passed on…

Continue Reading Key Developments In Equal Pay Litigation: Appellate Courts Refuse To Clarify Proper Use Of A “One-Comparator Rule”

By: Matthew J. Gagnon

Seyfarth Synopsis: In its seminal decision, Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, the Supreme Court held that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is tantamount to discrimination on the basis of sex. Employers are just beginning to grasp the wide-ranging impact that decision will have on the American workplace. The reasoning of…

Continue Reading Key Developments In Equal Pay Litigation: Impact Of The Supreme Court’s Bostock Decision

By: Matthew J. Gagnon

Seyfarth Synopsis: It has been nearly a decade since some states began enacting changes to their equal pay statutes that appeared to some to differentiate those statues from the federal Equal Pay Act (“EPA”) in significant ways. Although those changes garnered plenty of press and speculation from commentators, the courts themselves have been rather slow to…

Continue Reading Key Developments In Equal Pay Litigation: The Second Circuit Finally Sees Some Daylight Between Federal And State Equal Pay Statutes

By: Matthew J. Gagnon

Seyfarth Synopsis: On October 17, 2023, the Second Circuit issued the eagerly-awaited decision in Eisenhauer v. Culinary Institute of America. The court clarified that the federal EPA never required employers to show that a “factor other than sex” must be related to the job in question, contrary to arguments by many plaintiffs and commentators. This was…

Continue Reading Second Circuit Clarifies That Federal Equal Pay Act Does Not Require “Factor Other Than Sex” Defense To Be Job Related