On January 23, 2024, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that a healthcare services company based in Pennsylvania agreed to pay $80,000 to resolve a sex discrimination lawsuit. The company offers intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring services to surgeons and hospitals in various states, and employs intraoperative neurophysiology monitorists to perform these services.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the company discriminated against a female monitorist by paying her less than her male counterparts for doing the same work, even though she had outstanding qualifications and work record. After she complained, the company retaliated against her and treated her worse than similarly situated male colleagues, resulting in her constructive discharge.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibit pay discrimination based on sex and retaliation for engaging in protected activity.
In addition to the $80,000 in monetary relief paid to the female monitorist, the consent decree resolving the litigation prohibits future pay discrimination or retaliation and mandates the company to take proactive measures to stop such discrimination from happening again. These steps include the implementation of enhanced compensation and discrimination policies, training for human resources and management officials involved in compensation decisions, notices to employees about their rights, and an internal compensation audit.
Debra Lawrence, regional attorney in the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office, said, “Employers should be proactively reviewing their own compensation systems for sex-based disparities, and they cannot punish an employee for raising equal pay concerns.”
Compliance Perspective
Issue
Sex discrimination involves treating someone (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of that person’s sex, including the person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy. The law prohibits discrimination in any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, benefits, and any other term or condition of employment. The Equal Pay Act requires that men and women in the same workplace be given equal pay for equal work. The jobs need not be identical, but they must be substantially equal. Job content (not job titles) determines whether jobs are substantially equal. All forms of pay are covered by this law, including salary, overtime pay, bonuses, stock options, profit sharing and bonus plans, life insurance, vacation and holiday pay, cleaning or gasoline allowances, hotel accommodations, reimbursement for travel expenses, and benefits. If there is an inequality in wages between men and women, employers may not reduce the wages of either sex to equalize their pay. Participating in a complaint process is protected from retaliation under all circumstances.
Discussion Points
- Review policies and procedures for prevention of any type of discrimination, including in hiring practices, wage, or benefit assignment. Also review policies and procedures on nonretaliation. Update your policies as needed.
- Train appropriate staff on the Equal Pay Act. Train all staff on what is considered discrimination and their role in promptly reporting all types of discrimination to a supervisor, the compliance and ethics officer, or through the facility’s hotline. Stress the importance of nonretaliation. Document that these trainings occurred and file the signed documents in each employee’s education file.
- Audit wages of all levels of workers to ensure there is no evidence of sex-based compensation discrimination or violations related to other protected categories, e.g., race, ethnicity, religion, disability, etc. Periodically audit by anonymously polling staff to determine if they may be experiencing discrimination. Ask if they feel free to report such instances without fear of retaliation or retribution.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*
