GV Wire: Mixed Feelings in Supreme Court Ruling in Fresno Equal Pay Case

February 26. 2019
ERA Staff

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Fresno news source GV Wire ran an article about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to vacate a unanimous equal pay decision from last year out of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which banned employers from using an employee’s prior salary to justify pay discrepancies.  Equal Rights Advocates led amici in oral argument last year.

Senior Counsel for Workplace Justice & Public Policy Jessica Stender, who presented oral argument to the en banc Ninth Circuit panel last year on behalf of amici, was quoted in the article:

We believe the weight of authority strongly supports the well-reasoned majority opinion of the en banc panel, and we’re confident the Ninth Circuit will once again hold that prior salary is not a valid justification, alone or in combination with other factors, for denying women equal pay under the federal Equal Pay Act,” said Jessica Stender, the group’s senior counsel.

Relying on prior salary allows pay discrimination to follow women and people of color from job to job, resulting in a lifetime of lost wages, less income for families, and higher rates of poverty.

Read the full article here.

Read our statement on the Supreme Court’s action.