Equal Points Equal Pay

After three long years the US Women’s national team won there lawsuit based on gender discrimination due to pay.

In March of 2016 this long journey of getting equal pay started when a group of five of the Women’s National Team filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. These players claimed there pay was in violation of Title VII and the Equal Pay Act.

The lawsuit was filed by all 28 members of the United States Woman’s National Team in March of 2019. The suit was filed against the United States Soccer Federation and filed in the United States District Court of Los Angeles.

Pay discrepancies are as follows: the men’s team receives an additional $5,000 bonus when the team looses in a friendly match while the women receive  nothing for a loss or draw. On the other hand men receive a $17,000 bonus and the women only receive a $1,300 dollar bonus for each win. The biggest upset came with the women’s pay for there World Cup victory in 2015. The men’s team receive a $35 million dollar bonus from FIFA for winning while the women only received 5% of that for there win.

The United States Soccer Federation’s original response to the complaint was to promote women’s soccer. While this sentiment is nice this does not make up for the pay gap while the women are doing the Same work.

When the case first went to trial District Judge R. Gary Klausner dismissed the unequal pay portion of the case. This was based on the fact that on average USWT got payed more per game and more in total during the years that were complained about. Then in October of 2021 Judge Klausen allowed the case to enter the District Court of Appeals.

After the USWT won there appeal they came to a equal pay agreement on February 22, 2022. The agreement that was reached was for a landmark $24 million in backpay owed to the USWT.

This has been one of the biggest and most apparent pay disputes since The 1963 Equal Pay Act.  Now society is one step closer for finally treating genders equally.