“Andrea” is a highly qualified lawyer who worked at a number of private firms before applying to a Minnesota department. The Department posted minimum requirements for the position, and preferred requirements. Andrea met all of the minimum requirements and all of the preferred requirements – she was a perfect fit and the Department hired her.
After several years on the job, Andrea learned that she was the lowest paid person in her position, by far. She also learned that at least 2 men in the same position were paid significantly more than her, but these men either did not meet the minimum qualifications for the job or the preferred, or both. So Andrea was doing the same work as her male peers, was objectively more qualified, yet was being paid less.
So Andrea raised a concern of gender discrimination to her supervisors. They directed her to Human Resources, which gave her the run-around. Andrea was too proud to continue doing the same work for less money than men who she was objectively more qualified than. So she resigned.
Then Andrea found our firm. We sued the Department for gender discrimination, under both the Equal Pay Act and the Minnesota Human Rights Act. After nearly 2 years of litigation, the Department agreed to pay Andrea approximately $200,000 to settle the case.
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We were honored to represent Andrea. She had a lot of courage to stand up for herself and what she knew to be right. I hope that if you find yourself in this situation, you find the same courage that she did and stand up for what you know to be right. There is no reason that men should be paid more than women for doing the same work – especially if the women are objectively more qualified.
Contact our Minnesota gender discrimination and equal pay lawyers today if you’ve got a situation that you’d like to discuss.
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