From left: The demand “equal pay” became a chant among fans; the U.S. women won more games than the men. ‘Equal Pay!’ The U.S. women’s soccer team scores a win in its yearslong wage discrimination claim “O


VER THE YEARS, EQUAL PAY has gone from a whisper in the locker room to a roar


on the field to fundamentally chang- ing the business of soccer and sports in the United States and around the world,” Molly Levinson, spokesper- son for players on the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT), told Ms. In February, members of the


USWNT reached a $24 million set- tlement with the U.S. Soccer Federa- tion (USSF) in their six-year battle over gender pay discrimination. The 28 players who brought the suit will divide $22 million, and the USSF will create a $2 million fund to sup- port girls’ and women’s soccer. While the settlement falls far short of the $67 million players had requested in their suit, it does mark a milestone for women’s soccer. USSF has also agreed to equalize


pay between the women’s and men’s soccer teams in the next collective bargaining agreements, but this is de- pendent on ratification of a new con- tract that includes equalizing World Cup prize money. For that to happen, the men’s players must agree to share potential payments from FIFA, the governing body of world soccer. FIFA pays significantly larger sums for the men’s tournament than the women’s. The conflict over equal pay began


in 2016 with a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by five USWNT players


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alleging wage discrimination. U.S. Soccer responded defensively, arguing that the men brought in more money, making them deserving of higher pay. The complaint sat with the EEOC for more than two years until the players were eventually granted the right to sue. In March 2019, on International Women’s Day, the players filed their lawsuit. “Equal pay!” became a re- sounding chant among fans in soccer stadiums, including when the team won its second straight World Cup. In the late 2010s, the women play-


ers actually made more money than the men because they played and won more games, including World Cham- pionships and Olympic medals. (In March 2020, U.S. Soccer claimed in legal filings that women players were inferior to men, leading to a backlash and the resignation of its president.) In May 2020, a federal judge ruled that because women play- ers had made more money—and because the women’s collective bar- gaining agreement did not stipulate the same pay structure as the men’s— he did not find a basis for pay dis- crimination. The two teams had different contracts, most problemati- cally in the amounts paid for call- ups, games played and performance bonuses. For example, women’s play- ers receive $3,250–$4,500 per game played, while the men’s players re- ceive $5,000. In other words, the judge was OK with the women hav-


ing to play more games with better results in order to achieve equal pay. The players filed an appeal in July


2021 seeking to overturn the judge’s decision, citing another 2021 case in which an appeals court overturned a judge’s decision to dismiss the case of a woman who sued for wage discrim- ination. While the woman was paid commissions at the same rate as men, her base salary was lower. Because she made more commissions, however, her total pay was higher than the men’s. The appeals court said that the lower base salary violated the Equal Pay Act, even if she made more in to- tal compensation. The players’ brief argued that in


their case, “because the district court used a total-compensation standard, it completely ignored the fact that the players’ pay depends on performance. The only way the women could achieve the same overall pay as the men was by performing much better than them. That is not equal pay for equal work.” The USSF settlement came two


weeks before oral arguments on the players’ appeal were scheduled. “We are incredibly proud of the


progress we’ve made through our equal pay win,” says Levinson, the players’ spokesperson, “and yet there is always more to be done. We hope our efforts continue to drive equality both on and off of the field.” —SUSAN M. SHAW


SPRING 2022 | 11


RICH BARNES/GETTY IMAGES; DAVID BERDING/GETTY IMAGES


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