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Prior Salary Can't Justify Gender Wage Gap

By Erin Mulvaney
May 01, 2018

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on April 9 that salary history cannot be used to justify a wage gap between men and women, in a case that employee advocates said highlights a key issue that has institutionalized gender compensation inequities. See, Rizo v. Fresno County Office of Education, No. 16-15372 (9th Cir. 2018).

The Ninth Circuit, which heard the case en banc last December, found that an employee's prior salary — either alone or in a combination of factors — cannot be used to justify paying women less than men in comparable jobs.

“The Equal Pay Act stands for a principle as simple as it is just: men and women should receive equal pay for equal work regardless of sex,” Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote in the opinion. “The question before us is also simple: can an employer justify a wage differential between male and female employees by relying on prior salary? Based on the text, history, and purpose of the Equal Pay Act, the answer is clear: No.”

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