In April 1998, the Detroit District Office of the EEOC filed this suit against Eastern Michigan University in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan alleging discrimination on the basis of sex in violation of the Equal Pay Act (EPA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. We do not have a copy of the complaint. However, according to an EEOC press release, the complaint alleged that the charging party, a female professor, was paid less than her male colleagues for performing essentially the same work. The charging party attempted to intervene in the suit in January 1999, but her request was denied in February 1999. In June 1999, the defendant filed a motion for summary judgment. After this motion was denied in September 1999, the parties settled through a consent decree in April 2000.

The eighteen-month decree, containing non-discrimination and non-retaliation clauses, required the defendant to provide Title VII and EPA training for all of its management and personnel staff who had an impact on hiring and compensation decisions and to post a notice of EPA rights. In addition, the defendant agreed to raise the charging party's salary and to pay her a total of $100,000.

Kevin Wilemon - 06/07/2007


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