FIU will pay $575,000 after gender paycheck discrimination against 163 women, feds say
After a federal salary review, Florida International University has been accused of gender pay discrimination against 163 women. While the Miami-based public university said it disagreed with the findings, it will pay $575,000 in back pay and interest to settle the allegation.
That works out to $3,527.61 for each woman that the U.S. Department of Labor said was shorted on pay.
Each woman worked in what the federal department called “mid-level executive” positions at FIU. The review found they were paid less than men in similar jobs at the university.
The alleged discrimination happened from Aug. 1, 2017, through Aug. 1, 2018. The Department of Labor released details of the case this month.
The Department of Labor said FIU would also allot $125,000 for “future pay equity adjustments and other pay equity-related activities and to take steps to make sure its compensation practices and policies are free from discrimination.”
While the university said that statement was accurate, it didn’t agree with the accusations made by Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs’ (OFCCP) review.
“At FIU, we take our commitment to equal employment opportunity seriously and strive to treat our employees fairly,” the school statement said. “While we disagree with the OFCCP’s allegations, we decided to enter into a conciliation agreement after an extensive review. This allows us to continue to focus our resources on our mission of excellence in higher education and research.
“In keeping with the normal course of university business,” the statement continued, ”we will continue to monitor our processes to ensure equal employment opportunities for every employee at FIU.”
As a federal contractor, FIU provides services for the federal government and contract work for five federal agencies, including the Department of Defense and NASA. That also means it’s subject to the rules of being a federal contractor, one of which is that all personnel practices must be free from discrimination based on color of skin, ethnicity, religious belief, sexual orientation, gender identity or natonal origin.
“Employers that hold federal contracts must provide all employees with equal employment opportunities and audit their employment processes to make certain no barriers to equal employment exist,” OFCCP Southeast Regional Director Aida Collins said. “We appreciate that Florida International University worked cooperatively with the Department of Labor to resolve our concerns.”
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This story was originally published October 23, 2023 at 5:03 PM.
