9 female special ed teachers were paid thousands less than male teacher, WI suit says
A Wisconsin school district is accused of paying female special education teachers less than their male counterpart by thousands of dollars, according to a complaint filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Since the 2019-2020 school year, the Verona Area School District has paid nine female special education teachers salaries ranging from $3,000 to $17,000 less than a male special education teacher, the complaint filed Tuesday, Jan. 25, says. The EEOC said the “alleged conduct violates the Equal Pay Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex.”
Verona Area School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.
All nine female teachers have similar or greater experience in their field than the male teacher, according to a news release from the EEOC.
All of the female teachers have master’s degrees, as does their male colleague. Two of the female teachers are nationally board-certified teachers in special education, while the male colleague is not, according to the complaint filed in the Western District of Wisconsin.
The male special education teacher was hired in 2019 and was the highest paid teacher in the department, the complaint says. The nine female teachers have all worked for the district as special education teachers for more than a decade, with one teacher having worked for VASD for 28 years.
“That the female employees had as much or more experience and were paid so much less than their male co-workers for doing the same job is unfair and illegal, and that’s why we filed suit to remedy that wrong,” Gregory Gochanour, regional attorney of the EEOC’s Chicago District Office, said in the release.
Additionally, the lawsuit includes a female psychologist with the school district who has been receiving a lower salary than a male school psychologist, the release said.
The female school psychologist worked for VASD since 2004, and her male colleague was hired in 2017, according to the complaint.
When he was hired, the female school psychologist made over $17,000 less than him. She has one more year of experience than him, the complaint says.
The EEOC is a federal agency that works to enforce anti-discrimination laws in workplaces.
“Fighting wage discrimination remains a priority for the EEOC,” Julianne Bowman, the district director of the EEOC’s office in Chicago, said in the release. “Nearly 60 years after the Equal Pay Act was enacted, we continue to see that more work needs to be done to achieve the act’s mandate of equal pay for equal work.”
The EEOC is requesting back pay, elimination of the pay disparities and liquidated damages as part of the lawsuit.
Verona is about 10 miles southwest of Madison.
This story was originally published January 26, 2022 at 11:57 AM with the headline "9 female special ed teachers were paid thousands less than male teacher, WI suit says."
