Cummins to Pay $77,500 in Sex Pay Discrimination Suit
(photo courtesy Cummins)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowColumbus-based Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) will pay $77,500 to settle a sex pay discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Cummins denied any liability or wrongdoing in the suit.
In addition to the money, Cummins also entered into a two-and-a-half-year consent decree mandating that the company must train its employees, including human resources and management personnel, on the requirements of Title VII and the EPA. Cummins agreed to report complaints of pay discrimination to the EEOC and has permitted the EEOC to monitor the company’s compliance with the decree, according to a news release.
The EEOC filed the lawsuit on behalf of a former female employee who held the benefits enrollment position for Cummins at its Business Services facility in Nashville, Tennessee.
The EEOC alleged that Cummins paid the employee less than a male employee, despite the fact that they performed the same job duties. The commission says that at the female employee’s request, Cummins conducted a salary review to determine if it was appropriately compensating her. The review found that the company paid the female employee less than her male counterpart, however, Cummins still did not raise the female employee’s salary.
When the female employee resigned nearly a year later, Cummins still had not increased her pay to match the pay of her male coworker.
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“Employers should provide men and women in the same workplace with equal pay for equal work,” said Faye Williams, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Memphis District Office, in a news release. “Not only is it fair, it’s the law. As the fight against unequal pay in the workplace continues, the Commission remains committed to challenging pay disparity until we realize the goal of wage equality.”