The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a legal brief supporting a federal court ruling that awarded monetary damages to two Central Bucks School District teachers who claimed they were paid less than a male colleague performing comparable work.
A federal jury last year found the district violated the Equal Pay Act, awarding Rebecca Cartee-Haring $81,000 and Dawn Marinello $84,000. The school district has appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, arguing the teachers were not entitled to damages. The case remains under review, according to Bucks County Herald.
In its filing, the EEOC urged the appellate court to uphold the jury’s verdict, stating that the Equal Pay Act does not require proof of widespread pay disparities across an entire workforce, per the report. Instead, the agency said the law can be violated if an employer pays one worker more than a female counterpart performing a “substantially equal job.”
Cartee-Haring also emailed current members of the Central Bucks school board, criticizing the district’s decision to continue appealing the ruling and urging officials to resolve the matter rather than continue spending taxpayer funds on legal fees, according to the article. The district did not respond to requests for comment, according to the report.
For the full story, read more at the Bucks County Herald.
