New York residents may heard stories about gender discrimination against female employees in the tech sector. In a lawsuit filed on Aug. 28, three former Oracle employees claimed that the company paid women less than men for performing similar duties. The suit claims that the company either knew or should have known about the pay disparity after a January 2017 lawsuit against Oracle brought by the Department of Justice.
As a result of the legal action taken by the DOJ, the former employees claim in their own suit that Oracle was required to keep certain pay records. Specifically, it was required to keep records related to wages, wage rates and job titles of all employees in California. This is the state in which the former employees are filing their lawsuit. They are asking for back pay plus interest in addition to other financial damages and a guarantee to pay workers equally in the future for doing similar work.
As a general rule, employees are to be paid based on their job title, performance and other factors related to their position. They are generally not allowed to be paid more or less based on their gender, race or other protected characteristics.
Employees who feel like they have been discriminated against based on a protected attribute may wish to discuss their situations with an attorney. An attorney may be able to help an individual take legal action against an employer. If successful, it may be possible to obtain compensation in the form of back pay or punitive damages. Other forms of relief may also be available under state or federal law.
