EEOC Has Stepped Up Its Equal Pay Act Litigation Activity, and Employers Should Take Notice

It is well known that alleged compensation discrimination has been an enforcement priority for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for several years now. That said, however, until recently there had not been any noticeable change in EEOC enforcement activity brought under the Equal Pay Act (EPA). The EPA is one of the two federal laws enforced by the EEOC, along with Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (Title VII), that prohibit sex-based differences in pay.

Things have changed, however. Even though the overall number of EPA charges filed with the EEOC each year has hovered around a mere 1% of all charges filed, over the last three years there has been a significant increase in lawsuits filed by the EEOC asserting EPA violations.

Indeed, since Fiscal Year (FY) 2014, the EEOC has increased its EPA litigation activity by a whopping 286%. And that trend continued into FY 2017. In the last quarter of FY 2017 alone (July – September 30), for example, the EEOC issued press releases announcing the filing of eight new EPA lawsuits. By comparison, in FY 2014 the agency filed only two EPA lawsuits during the entire year.

Accordingly, NT Lakis attorneys have prepared a memorandum that highlights some of the trends we’re noticing in EEOC enforcement of the EPA, as well as in private EPA litigation.

Members of the Center for Workplace Compliance (CWC) can read more here.