Mississippi-It Happened To Me:Unequal Pay

Dr. Siler-Khodr started working for the University of Texas in 1976. She began as an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She has a Ph.D. in biochemistry, and works as a reproductive endocrinologist specializing in women's reproduction and hormones. She conducts laboratory research, publishes her research, supervises fellows, and teaches classes at the university. With all this hard work, she was promoted to a full professor with tenure in 1986.

In 1989, a coworker joined Dr. Siler-Khodr's department at the university. The chair of the department hired this coworker to retain the coworker's wife, who is a valuable Ph.D. researcher in the department. The wife told the department chair that her husband wanted to leave his job, and if he relocated, she would move with him and leave the program. The department chair then offered the coworker a job with the university at a salary of $83,000. At this time, Dr. Siler-Khodr was earning only $64,354. The university justified this difference in pay by saying the coworker had obtained more grant funding than Dr. Siler-Khodr.

Dr. Siler-Khodr and her coworker have identical education and perform the same employment functions. In addition, the department chair testified they have the same duties and responsibilities. Despite the fact that they have the same qualifications and perform the same job, the coworker is paid almost $20,000 more than Dr. Siler-Khodr.

Dr. Siler-Khodr filed a lawsuit against the university. She alleged violations of Title VII and the Equal Pay Act. At trial, she presented statistics that gender affected university salaries for professors. Overall, women earned lower salaries than men. In January of 2000, a jury awarded Dr. Siler-Khodr back pay in the amount of $91,000 and compensatory damages in the amount of $20,000. The court ordered the university to equalize Dr. Siler-Khodr's salary to that of her coworker. The court also awarded her an additional $91,000 in damages and attorney's fees. On appeal, the court affirmed the jury verdict in 2001.

From 1976 to her victory in 2001, Dr. Siler-Khodr was paid less than male employees at the university. Now, after fighting for equal pay, she is finally being paid the salary she deserves.