The End “Goal” to the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Equal Pay Lawsuit: Proposing a Resolution for Gender Equality by Examining the Equal Pay Laws for Male and Female Sports

Authors

Veronica Adams, University of Miami School of Law

Document Type

Comment

Abstract

In March 2019, on International Women’s Day, 28 women on the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team filed a lawsuit against The U.S. Soccer Federation claiming gender discrimination, specifically in unequal payment between the men’s team and the women’s team. Players based the lawsuit on two grounds: (1) that U.S. Soccer violated the Equal Pay Act by paying the WNT less than the MNT; and (2) that the federation discriminated against the WNT under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in regard to workplace conditions. The Federation claims that the men and women are paid equally and the discrepancy in pay lies in the way the payment is broken down for each respective team, since the WNT did not agree to a collective bargaining agreement as the MNT did. Additionally, the Federation points to the language of the Equal Pay Act to show that the men and women are distinctive in accordance with the language in the statute.

On May 1, federal Judge Klausner in California rejected the players claims that the WNT was paid less than the MNT. In his decision, he stated that other unequal working conditions such as travel conditions and medical support were issues that could be presented at trial. Ultimately Judge Klausner concluded that the WNT did not prove wage discrimination under the Equal Pay Act because the women’s team played more games and received more money than the men. Though, the fight has not stopped there. The WNT players have appealed the decision for which the trial has been asked to be pushed back to January 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This article will examine whether the WNT can prevail with an equal pay claim under the current lawsuit and propose solutions to deter future pay disparity claims. Part I will discuss the WNT equal pay lawsuit in its entirety. Part II will analyze the WNT’s chance of prevailing under the claims brought. Part III will study both effective and ineffective pay structures in other sports. Part IV will analyze pay structure for both men and women and propose an equal business structure to ensure that there is no discrimination based on gender, specifically in United States professional soccer.

Recommended Citation

Veronica Adams, The End “Goal” to the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Equal Pay Lawsuit: Proposing a Resolution for Gender Equality by Examining the Equal Pay Laws for Male and Female Sports, 29 U. MIA Bus. L. Rev. 22 (2021)
Available at: https://repository.law.miami.edu/umblr/vol29/iss1/4