U.S. Women’s National Team Soccer Players Are Suing for Equal Pay
While many of us were sharing powerful quotes and photos of women we admire, 28 soccer players on the U.S. women's national team spent International Women's Day a little differently: by filing a class-action lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation alleging "institutionalized gender discrimination."
The historic lawsuit, filed under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, claims that, "Despite the fact that these female and male players are called upon to perform the same job responsibilities on their teams and participate in international competitions for their single common employer, the USSF, the female players have been consistently paid less money than their male counterparts." As if not being paid the same amount for the same job wasn't insulting enough, the lawsuit makes sure to point out that the members of the women's team have actually been doing their jobs better than their male counterparts, noting that, unlike the men's team, the women's team won a world championship.
"A comparison of the WNT and MNT pay shows that if each team played 20 friendlies in a year and each team won all 20 friendlies, female WNT players would earn a maximum of $99,000 or $4,950 per game," the lawsuit explains, "while similarly situated male MNT players would earn an average of $263,320 or $13,166 per game against the various levels of competition they would face."
ESPN reports that, in addition to the players getting support from fans, other associated organizations are speaking out. Although not affiliated with the lawsuit, the U.S. Women's National Team Players Association released a statement saying it "supports the plaintiffs' goal of eliminating gender-based discrimination by USSF," and the organization that represents the men's team's players, U.S. National Soccer Team Players Association, also expressed its support.
This isn't the first time members of the women's team have tried to close the gap between their pay and that of the men's team. In 2016, Carli Lloyd, Hope Solo, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, and Becky Sauerbrunn filed a complaint against the U.S. Soccer Federation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which, ESPN reports, noted that the women were paid approximately a quarter of what the men were paid despite the women's team generating nearly $20 million more revenue in 2015.
"We believe it is our duty to be the role models that we've set out to be and fight for what we know we legally deserve," said forward Christen Press to the Associated Press. "And hopefully in that way it inspires women everywhere."
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