Court: Pay equality efforts not enough

Employers must pay women the same as men for the same work regardless of differences in salaries at their previous jobs, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday. The case stems from a lawsuit brought by Aileen Rizo, a Fresno, Calif., public schools employee who learned in 2012 that male counterparts hired after her were making more money. Her salary was based on a 5 percent increase over her previous job at an Arizona school. The 9th Circuit declared such pay practices discriminatory under the Equal Pay Act, a 1963 law signed by President John F. Kennedy that said businesses could not pay women less than men for equal work solely because of gender. The act allowed pay differences based on seniority, merit, and quantity or quality of work. The court’s decision was unanimous and overturned a ruling last year by a smaller panel of 9th Circuit judges. The school district argued its policy provided an objective basis for salaries, but in the court’s majority opinion, Judge Stephen Reinhardt noted the policy perpetuated discrimination inherent in the job market. Reinhardt wrote the opinion before he died last month.