Male teachers got pay bump while women were shortchanged by PA district, suit says
.jpg "Female teachers are suing a Pennsylvania school district saying their male counterparts were compensated more for equal work.")
Over 100 current and former female teachers at a Pennsylvania school district say they were cheated out of pay while male colleagues were properly or overly compensated, a lawsuit said.
The 130 teachers are now suing Central Bucks School District and the school board, which has jurisdiction over teacher pay, accusing them of violating the Equal Pay Act. The current and former teachers are requesting back pay, the lawsuit said.
The school district told McClatchy News that it is aware of the lawsuit and is working with counsel but did not comment further. McClatchy News reached out to the school board on Jan. 9 but did not immediately receive a response.
The Jan. 3 filing comes months after a federal judge declared a mistrial in August in connection with a previous lawsuit on the matter, saying any teachers wanting to pursue claims against the school needed to file individual lawsuits rather than as a collective, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The new court documents accuse the district of underpaying the women by not properly placing them on the district’s pay scale. The scale determines a teacher’s compensation by their education and years of experience, according to the lawsuit.
While individual salaries were not listed, the lawsuit says the 130 female teachers were placed on lower steps of the pay scale despite their years of experience.
Their male counterparts, in contrast, were placed on the pay scale consummate with their years of experience and sometimes bumped to a higher level despite not meeting the requirements, according to the lawsuit.
This resulted in female teachers being paid less than male teachers despite them possessing “substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility, under similar working conditions,” the lawsuit said.
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits sex discrimination when it comes to pay, meaning those with equal skill and responsibility working under the same conditions must be paid fairly, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The school district is approximately a 40-mile drive north from Philadelphia.
This story was originally published January 9, 2025 at 3:00 PM with the headline "Male teachers got pay bump while women were shortchanged by PA district, suit says."
