Matters Management

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.

An individual alleging a violation of the EPA may go directly to court and is not required to file an EEOC charge beforehand. The time limit for filing an EPA charge with the EEOC and the time limit for going to court are the same: within two years of the alleged unlawful compensation practice or, in the case of a willful violation, within three years. The filing of an EEOC charge under the EPA does not extend the time frame for going to court.

MIDLAND, Texas – The University of Texas, Permian Basin has agreed to pay $46,000 in damages and to furnish other relief in order to settle a pay discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the University of Texas, Permian Basin (UTPB) violated the Equal Pay Act (EPA) by paying lesser wages to a female associate professor of accounting than it paid to two males hired to perform substantially equal work. The female professor began her employment on the UTPB Midland campus during the 2015-16 academic year. UTPB hired two male assistant professors of accounting for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years and paid them higher wages than the female associate professor although all performed and were responsible for substantially equal work. UTPB also lowered the female associate professor’s performance evaluation in retaliation for her internal complaints about the pay differential, as well as for her decision to file a charge with the EEOC.