Real Story of Pay Discrimination

Maureen was upset when she found out a co-worker, Mr. Hansen, was making more than she was for doing the same work. The unequal pay was easy for Maureen to prove -- she just had to show the difference between her salary and Mr. Hansen's to the court. However, her employer denied that Maureen's and Mr. Hansen's jobs were the same, because they did not require "equal skills, effort, and responsibility." Maureen had to persuade the court that it was more likely than not that the two jobs were similar enough to be paid the same salary. To demonstrate that the two jobs were alike, Maureen presented an office memo that described Mr. Hansen's job requirements, and compared them to her own day-to-day duties. The court found that both workers did basically the same thing - hiring asbestos workers and scheduling them to work at various job sites. As a result, Maureen's employer was unable to prove that the two positions were different in kind or responsibility. Since the defendant could not demonstrate that the pay difference was due to seniority, merit, quality or quantity of work, or any other factor not based on gender, Maureen won her claim and was awarded $440. She was fired soon after, but was not able to prove that she was retaliated against.

Maureen Leeson v. Midwest Asbestos Removal Service, WL 407830 (Ill. Hum. Rts. Com. 1997).