Hundreds of CU Boulder women faculty to receive back pay following $4.5 million settlement
The University of Colorado Boulder has reached a $4.5 million settlement with hundreds of women faculty following a lawsuit alleging gender pay discrimination.
CU Boulder has agreed to pay 386 women faculty back pay, complete salary equity analyses every three years and make salary information for its faculty more publicly available.
"I'm feeling very proud of our class representatives for pursuing this action," said Shelly Miller, lead plaintiff, professor and chair of the Boulder Faculty Assembly. "In the beginning, it took a lot of courage from many of us. Many of our colleagues were hesitant to go forward, but in the end, we found the courage and support from each other to do it."
The settlement agreement was reached on Thursday. The class action lawsuit was filed the same day as the settlement, which lawyers said was a result of about a year and a half of negotiations with the university.
"CU Boulder is committed to providing fair and equitable wages to all employees across all disciplines," CU Boulder spokesperson Nicole Mueksch wrote in an email. "As part of its continuous commitment to salary equity, the university will ensure academic units maintain salary equity among faculty members, maintain transparency in faculty salaries and conduct a campus-wide salary equity analysis every three years."
In the settlement agreement, the university denied any allegations of wrongdoing.
"Nonetheless, without admitting or conceding any wrongdoing, liability, or damages, or the appropriateness of Class Representatives' claims or similar claims for class treatment, the University consents to the Settlement solely to avoid the expense, inconvenience, and inherent risk of litigation as well as continued disruption of its business operations," the agreement read.
The lawsuit alleged gender wage discrimination in violation of the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
Following the passage of the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act in 2019, CU Boulder conducted an equity analysis in 2021 to determine whether it complies with the new law. The Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act was enacted on Jan. 1, 2021, and was created to close the gender pay gap.
After the university's salary analysis, it granted raises to women faculty. When raises were given, the lawsuit alleges that the university failed to provide any backpay to remedy past violations of pay discrimination as required by law.
"Everybody deserves equal pay for equal work, and these faculty have been undervalued for a long time," CU Boulder Professor and plaintiff Katie Little said. "Many of them have been underpaid for years. It's important to draw attention to women who deserve to be paid equally for the same amount of work."
Little brought her concerns about pay discrimination to the university in 2015. She said her concerns were dismissed by CU Boulder, an experience she saw repeatedly as other people tried and failed to get it addressed over the years.
"This great group of women really were brave," Little said. "These are all women whose concerns were ignored before ... and they're really brave in doing this because CU has not been receptive to these kinds of things. It took this law for CU to finally listen and address these concerns."
The most important part of the settlement are the non-monetary demands of the settlement, Little said. Wage transparency and regular equity reviews are key.
"The goal really was we wanted to change this culture, we wanted to change this to a fair work environment where everyone is valued for their work," she said.
The women faculty involved in the lawsuit includes several highly distinguished women faculty at CU Boulder, including a Fulbright Scholar, multiple National Science Foundation Award winners, multiple National Academy of Science award winners, an elected member to the National Academy of Inventors, National Institute of Mental Health grant winners, a Packard Fellow, a CU Boulder President's Teaching Scholar and a CU Boulder Professor of Distinction.
"We're grateful that CU ultimately did the right thing," Miller said.
Seth Benezra, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys, said the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act "is a game changer" for closing loopholes in other federal and state statutes prohibiting gender-based wage discrimination.
"(CU Boulder) is to be commended for taking this case seriously and implementing meaningful changes," Benezra wrote in an email. "It is the hope of Counsel and the Class Representatives that other institutions of higher education in Colorado will follow (CU Boulder's) lead by conducting an equity analysis, instituting wage transparency and addressing gender-based wage disparities that we are certain exist."
