On Sunday, July 7, the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) made history with their fourth World Cup title after triumphing over the Netherlands in a 2-0 match. The team shone throughout the entire World Cup, and have continued to make strides in the weeks since.
Shavitz Law Group salutes the players of the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) on their World Cup victory. SLG also supports the USNWT for their passionate advocacy for equal pay. On March 8, 2019, the 28-player USNWT filed a class-action lawsuit against their employer, the United States Soccer Federation. The lawsuit is brought pursuant to the Equal Pay Act (EPA), which requires equal pay for equal work. Clearly, the women’s and men’s soccer teams perform the same work.
The facts of the USNWT lawsuit are staggering. While indisputably performing the same work as their male counterparts, players in the USNWT women would earn a maximum of $99,000 or $4,950 per game while a male player would get an average of $263,320 or $13,166 per game. This gaping difference exists notwithstanding the fact that from 2016-2018 the women’s game generated nearly a million dollars more in revenue than the men’s games. In addition, the women’s team is acknowledged as the best in the world and won its fourth World Cup title on top of four Olympic titles. The U.S. men’s team has no such victories and didn’t even qualify for last year’s World Cup tournament.
The USNWT’s lawsuit highlights gross gender inequalities in pay. As Co-Captain Megan Rapinoe has noted, the team’s lawsuit reflects the reality in the United States workforce. According to the Department of Labor, women in the U.S. earn only 80 cents for every dollar for that made by a man performing the same work. For Latina and African American women, the difference is even worse.
SLG is here to assist women whose employers have deprived them of the equal wages that the law requires. If you, your mother, sister, aunt, grandmother or friend believes that an employer is failing to pay them fairly, contact us. In the spirit of the USNWT, SLG’s goal is for all women to be paid equally as the law requires.