Equal Pay Act & Title VII Disparate Impact - Jennifer Freyd v University of Oregon 2017-2021

Ninth Circuit Decision & Precedent, 15 March 2021

As reported in The Oregonian, 17 March 2021:

A federal appeals court has revived a professor’s lawsuit alleging the University of Oregon has failed to address a “glaring” pay gap between her and four male colleagues. Jennifer Joy Freyd, a psychology professor, argued that the university paid her several thousand dollars less per year than it paid the male professors though they were all of equal rank and seniority.

A reasonable jury could find that Freyd and her male colleagues performed a common core of tasks and did substantially equal work yet the men drew significantly higher wages, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals held Monday. The decision reverses a ruling by U.S. District Judge Michael J. McShane and sends the case back to the trial court.

“We think that a reasonable jury could find that Freyd’s statistical analysis shows a prima facie case of disparate impact,” 9th Circuit Judge Jay S. Bybee wrote in the majority opinion.

Freyd challenged the university’s practice of awarding retention raises to professors who pursued offers at other institutions, without also increasing the salaries of other professors of comparable merit and seniority. Freyd’s lawyers argued that the university offered retention raises to certain faculty as an incentive to remain at the school when they’re being courted by other academic institutions. She claimed that women professors at the University of Oregon are less likely to engage in retention negotiations than male professors, and when they do, they are less likely to successfully obtain a raise. The appeals panel also found that the retention practice caused a significant discriminatory impact and a reasonable jury could find that her statistical analysis supported the disparity. (Continue Reading.)

Joint Settlement Statement, 16 July 2021

Professor Emerit Jennifer Freyd and the University of Oregon are pleased to announce that we have settled our lawsuit after more than four years of litigation.  Under the settlement, the University will pay Prof. Freyd and her attorneys $350,000 to cover her claims for damages as well as attorney’s fees over the four years of litigation.  In addition, the University will make a $100,000 donation to the Center for Institutional Courage, the foundation founded by Prof. Freyd dedicated to scientific research and action promoting institutional courage.

 We are pleased to put this litigation behind us and together affirm our continued commitment to uncover, acknowledge, and address gender inequity and other forms of discrimination.

Legal Briefs & Materials

Advocacy and Opinion from Faculty

Advocacy and Opinion from UO Current and Former Graduate Students

Media

“Knowing that I have been paid significantly less than my male peers over the course of my career is demoralizing and humiliating. The loss of pay also has had material impact on my freedom and opportunities now. As someone who has reached a certain level of professional achievement, I feel a sense of responsibility to speak the truth of my experience. The pay inequity I have experienced is very painful and I do not want the women I have mentored, my current and many former graduate students, my own daughter in graduate school, or the junior faculty we have hired in the Department of Psychology to go through what I’ve gone through.”
— Declaration of Jennifer Joy Freyd. Dec 14, 2018
“I am pleased that the court recognized that the Equal Pay Act applies in professional settings and that courts cannot break down jobs into tiny pieces. They recognized our claim that practices like retention raises can result in discrimination against the law. This is not just a victory for me. It sends a strong message of support to so many women who continue to struggle against pay discrimination. ”
— Jennifer Joy Freyd after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion of 15 March 2021