Women’s fight for equal pay slow going

By

Opinion

May 17, 2019 - 5:04 PM

Julie Rosenquist’s complaints of unequal pay fell on deaf ears.

As a school principal, Rosenquist was paid 90 percent of her male counterparts. 

When she complained, officials boosted her pay by 3%.

When she sued, she won.

And no, this isn’t what instigated the Equal Pay Act of 1963. 

Rather, the decision was handed down Thursday. The year 2019.

And Ms. Rosenquist was principal for Gridley Elementary and Southern Coffey Middle School just across the way for USD 245, Le Roy-Gridley.

 

IN 2015, Ms. Rosenquist was hired at a salary of $45,000, despite the fact that her predecessor, a male, had been paid $50,000.

The positions were identical, requiring the same skills, effort and responsibilities.

After a year on the job, she complained about the unequal pay and was given a $1,500 raise, placing her still well below what her predecessor earned.

Perhaps because she sensed a losing battle with USD 245 officials, Ms. Rosenquist left the position in 2017.

Starting pay for her replacement, a male, was $50,000.

Even inflation can’t make up that big of a difference.

 

RATHER than suck it up, Ms. Rosenquist stuck it out and filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which filed an employment discrimination suit against the school district in August 2018.

By winning the suit, Ms. Rosenquist received $11,250 in back pay for her three years with the school district.

More importantly, USD 245 must conduct district-wide training on sex discrimination and adopt policies that place men and women on equal footing. 

 

THE CASE is just another example of the gender pay gap in the United States. Despite laws and “special” days that recognize a woman’s right to equal pay, the truth is that the median pay for women is 80 cents to a man’s dollar. In Kansas, women on average make 77 cents to every dollar a man makes, putting us 44th in the nation. 

Related