US women tell 9th Circuit trial court didn't factor success
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) â Players on the U.S. womenâs national soccer team urged a federal appeals court to reinstate their equal pay lawsuit, saying their greater success than the American men was not taken into account by a trial court judge who dismissed their case.
Players led by Alex Morgan sued the U.S. Soccer Federation in March 2019, contending they have not been paid equitably under their collective bargaining agreement that runs through December 2021, compared to what the menâs team receives under its agreement that expired in December 2018. The women asked for more than $64 million in damages plus $3 million in interest under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner in Los Angeles threw out the pay claim in May 2020, ruling the women rejected a pay-to-play structure similar to the one in the menâs agreement and accepted greater base salaries and benefits than the men, who failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. The women asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overrule the trial court's ruling and put their wage claim back on track.
âIt held that compensation for the women and men was equal because the teams received about the same amount per game,â the players said of in their appellate brief filed Friday. âThat approach accounted for one measure of pay (games played) but not the other (performance). That was a significant error, because the performance bonuses make up most of the playersâ pay, and the women were the best in the world, while the men were much less successful.â
The players said that "in effect, the court held that pay is equal if a woman can obtain the same amount of money as a man by working more and performing better.â
The USSF brief is due by Aug. 23 and the playersâ optional reply brief is due 21 days after the USSF submission. The case likely will be assigned to a three-judge panel for oral argument.
âU.S. Soccer is committed to equal pay and to ensuring that our womenâs national team remains the best in the world,â the federation said in a statement. âIn ruling in favor of U.S. Soccer on the playersâ pay discrimination claims, the district court rightly noted that the womenâs national team negotiated for a different pay structure than the menâs national team, and correctly held that the womenâs national team was paid more both cumulatively and on an average per-game basis than the menâs national team.â
The U.S. has won the last two Womenâs World Cups and headed to this summerâs Olympic womenâs soccer tournament as the favorite, then lost its opener 3-0 to Sweden on Wednesday in Tokyo.
The sides reached a settlement Dec. 1 on working condition claims that calls for charter flights, hotel accommodations, venue selection and professional staff support equitable to that of the menâs team. The USSF says it pays equally for matches it controls but not for tournaments organized by soccerâs world governing body.
FIFA awarded $400 million in prize money for the 32 teams at the 2018 menâs World Cup, including $38 million to champion France. It awarded $30 million for the 24 teams at the 2019 Womenâs World Cup, including $4 million to the U.S. after the Americans won their second straight title.
FIFA has increased the total to $440 million for the 2022 menâs World Cup, and its president, Gianni Infantino, has proposed FIFA double the womenâs prize money to $60 million for the 2023 Womenâs World Cup, in which FIFA has increased the teams to 32.
Players faulted the USSF for selling marketing agreements that cover both the men and women.
âThe federation refused (and still refuses) to allow companies to enter sponsorship deals solely with the USWNT, even though some sponsors want to do that because they view the USWNT as the more marketable team,â the women said in their brief.
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