How to Prove Pay Discrimination

News headlines often highlight pay discrimination in the context of the gender pay gap. While gender-based pay discrimination is common, discriminatory payment practices can also impact employees due to factors like age, race, and other protected characteristics, which are both illegal and unfair.

If you believe your employer is engaging in illegal payment practices, here is an overview of how you can try to prove pay discrimination and what steps you can take.

How Can I Tell if I Am Being Paid Unfairly?

When it comes to taking action against pay discrimination, knowledge is power. Before you can set out to prove that you are being discriminated against, you first need to know how to identify that pay discrimination is occurring in your workplace.

Broadly, pay discrimination means you are being underpaid for your work because of characteristics that are protected under anti-discrimination laws. Some of the most common protected characteristics that lead to pay discrimination include:

• Gender

• Age

• Race

• Sexual orientation

• Religion

• National origin

• Disability

• Pregnancy

A good starting point for identifying pay discrimination in your workplace is to research the typical salary or wage rate for your role while taking into account factors like geographic location and company size.

Once you know what your role typically pays in your area, speak with peers and co-workers about how their compensation compares to yours. For example, if you are a female software engineer and discover your salary is $50,000 with similar responsibilities and experience, this may signal that you are being paid unfairly.

When trying to identify whether your pay is unfair, it is important to consider factors like experience level, number of years at the company, and differences in roles and responsibilities.

Examples of Pay Discrimination

It can be difficult at first to identify when underpayment is an instance of pay discrimination. Simply paying an employee less than the average salary for a role is not illegal. However, when employees are singled out or taken advantage of due to factors like race or gender, it can be discriminatory.

Some common examples that may signal pay discrimination include:

• Male employees receive larger bonuses than female employees.
• Starting salaries for new hires are lower for those with green cards or visas.
• Hispanic workers receive smaller pay increases than white workers.
• Salary increases use a point system that unfairly impacts disabled workers.
• A pay raise request is denied for a black worker and approved for a white worker.
• A disabled applicant is offered a lower starting salary than a non-disabled hire.

Pay discrimination can take many forms. In all of them, the employee’s protected characteristics must be the primary reason for the discriminatory pay practice.

Companies that engage in pay discrimination tend to do so habitually. This means that over time, a pattern often emerges showing, for example, that the company’s white workers hold higher salaries than its equally qualified black workers or that male workers routinely receive higher bonus amounts than female workers in similar roles.

The Essential Evidence for Proving Pay Discrimination

Proving unfair pay practices requires collecting a fair amount of evidence. To prove that an employer is engaging in pay discrimination, you must be able to show that your pay is unfair and that discrimination is the reason for the pay disparity between your role and those of your colleagues. Your employer will likely try to prove it has legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for the pay disparity.

A successful pay discrimination case rests on evidence. Types of evidence that are most helpful in a pay discrimination case often include:

• Records showing employee salaries or wages with substantially similar jobs.
• Records documenting bonus and pay increases.
• Descriptions of job responsibilities and required experience.
• Performance reviews.
• Records of disciplinary issues.
• Witness statements.
• Emails related to pay.

In a successful pay discrimination case, all the evidence comes together to paint a clear picture of a workplace that rewards certain employees while treating others unfairly based on a protected characteristic, such as gender.

Navigating Federal and State Laws on Pay Equality

Workplace discrimination and unequal pay are illegal. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces laws that prohibit employers from paying employees differently based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, disability, age (40 or older), or genetic information.

Two main federal laws address these unfair practices in the workplace: the Equal Pay Act and Title VII.

The Equal Pay Act became law in 1963. The law made it illegal for employers to pay a worker less based on their sex. The EPA requires employers to pay men and women equally for doing the same work at the same workplace.

When there is a disparity between how similar employees of different sexes are paid, the employer cannot reduce the pay of the higher-earning employee. Instead, the company must raise the pay of the employee who is earning less.

Title VII forms parts of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This is the primary body of laws related to protecting people from discriminatory workplace practices. Title VII makes it illegal for employers to treat workers differently because of protected characteristics. It protects employees from workplace discrimination in areas that include:

• Pay and benefits
• Promotion and job assignments
• Advertising practices
• Recruitment practices
• Application and hiring process
• Background checks
• Job referrals
• Disciplinary practices
• Firing practices
• Job references
• Reasonable accommodations
• Harassment

Title VII makes it illegal for an employer to use protected characteristics to justify offering unfair or unequal pay, benefits, insurance, vacation and sick time, overtime and overtime pay, and retirement programs in the context of discriminatory pay practices.

Additionally, the laws enforced by the EEOC protect you from being punished or harassed at work because you complained about pay discrimination.

Filing a Pay Discrimination Complaint

When a company refuses to protect employees from discriminatory management decisions or appears to engage in discriminatory pay practices, the employee can file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. A charge of discrimination is a signed statement asserting that an employer engaged in employment discrimination.

The general process for taking action through the EEOC involves:

• Submitting an online inquiry to the EEOC.
• Going through the EEOC interview about the discrimination.
• Filing a formal charge of discrimination (this can be completed through the EEOC’s public portal).
• Waiting for the EEOC to conduct an investigation.

If you have retained an employment lawyer, your lawyer will help you with the EEOC process.

It is important to know that state laws, Title VII, and the Equal Pay Act may all have different time limits involved in filing a claim. You can consult the EEOC website for more information.

Unlike Title VII, under the Equal Pay Act, you don’t need to file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC. Instead, you are allowed to go directly to court and file a lawsuit. The deadline for filing a charge or lawsuit under the EPA is two years from the day you received the last discriminatory paycheck (this is extended to three years in the case of willful discrimination).

When to Seek Legal Representation for Your Pay Discrimination Case

Pay discrimination can profoundly affect your finances and standard of living. You are not required to hire an employment lawyer to file an EEOC charge of discrimination, but it is a good idea to hear a lawyer’s opinion on how they could help your case. From the start of your case, a lawyer can guide you on how to collect the evidence you need to prove pay discrimination.

Given the circumstances, a lawyer can help advise you on whether to file a lawsuit. Hiring a lawyer to represent your interests prior to filing a lawsuit may help you obtain your ideal outcome without resorting to formal litigation. If you do choose to file a lawsuit, your employment lawyer will represent you in court.

Successful Strategies for a Strong Pay Discrimination Claim

A successful pay discrimination lawsuit requires planning, strategy, and skilled legal representation. It is a mistake to think you can simply file a claim and walk away with compensation. Steps that can help increase the chances of a successful claim include:

• Compiling convincing documentation.
• Showing you tried to address the discrimination at work, but your employer continued the discrimination.
• Filing an EEOC complaint.
• Hiring an experienced employment lawyer.
• Keeping details of your case private.

One reason a discrimination lawsuit can fail is when the employee makes inconsistent statements about the discrimination they faced. By keeping details private and not posting about the case on social media, you protect yourself from your own words being later used against you to disprove your claim.

Partnering With Wenzel Fenton Cabassa, P.A.

Wenzel Fenton Cabassa, P.A. is a Florida employment law firm that fights for the equal treatment of all workers. Our experienced equal pay attorneys handle all manner of work discrimination cases, including cases involving pay discrimination. We hold a long track record of successfully helping clients stand up to discriminatory workplace practices and recover compensation for what they have endured.

Contact Wenzel Fenton Cabassa, P.A., to schedule a free case evaluation with a Florida equal pay lawyer today.