Robin Abcarian in the Los Angeles Times highlights another pay equity lawsuit–this one filed by women lawyers who had been working for Farmers Insurance. The lawsuit claims not only were they paid less than men (some of whom had less experience), they also experienced retaliation just for requesting equal pay. I’ve read too many media reports that suggest women earn less because they don’t ask for more. This lawsuit indicates a different reality — asking for fair and equal compensation can have negative, career-detrimental consequences.
Rather than talk about how to achieve work-life balance, perhaps we need to have a different conversation: how to ensure pay equity for all women in all professions. And we need to follow Meryl Streep’s lead and advocate for the return of the Equal Rights Amendment on Capitol Hill.
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Cathy Standiford is passionately committed to improving the lives of women and girls, locally and globally, and advocating for their basic human rights. Cathy served as 2009-2010 President of Soroptimist International of the Americas, LiveYourDream.org’s sponsoring organization: a global volunteer organization dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls through programs leading to social and economic empowerment. |