USWNT's gender discrimination lawsuit against U.S. Soccer will go to trial in May 2020
The U.S. women’s national team will get its day in court.
A judge ruled that the team’s gender discrimination lawsuit against U.S. Soccer will head to trial in May 5, 2020, according to Andrew Das of the New York Times.
That’s actually much sooner than expected. Both sides proposed the trial take place in December 2020, but the judge decided to expedite the process.
The players are happy about the new timeline:
A trial in the USWNT players' pay equity suit is set to start May 5, 2020, a judge ruled today according to players' spokeswoman Molly Levinson. It is an aggressive timeline as the sides' proposed plan would've had the trial start in December 2020. Here is the players' statement: pic.twitter.com/lkfK2SY1ch
— Zach Zagger (@ZachZagger) August 19, 2019
After years of fighting for equal pay, the USWNT sued U.S. Soccer for “gender discrimination” in March. The players’ argument got even more attention as they won yet another World Cup in July.
At the team’s celebration, chants of “equal pay” broke out when U.S. Soccer president Carlos Cordeiro spoke. Members of Congress have gotten involved too, introducing legislation that would withhold funds from the 2026 World Cup unless the women’s team receives equal pay.
U.S. Soccer has pushed back against the idea of equal pay, arguing that the women’s team has been adequately compensated. In August, U.S. Soccer hired lobbyists to make its case.
On Wednesday, the two sides met to try and find common ground on the issue. Those mediation talks broke down, prompting a judge to set a trial date.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
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