A recent equal pay discrimination ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit serves as a reminder that a court can reach different outcomes depending on whether it is applying federal law or a more expansive state law. In Eisenhauer v. Culinary Institute of America, a female professor for the Culinary Institute of America sued under both New York law and the federal Equal Pay Act, alleging that her employer paid her less than a male coworker. A federal trial court ruled for the employer on both clams, but on appeal a Second Circuit panel reversed as to the state law claim, finding that the trial court failed to distinguish the difference in the two statutes.
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