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Full-Text Articles in Law
Money, Sex, And Sunshine: A Market-Based Approach To Pay Discrimination, Deborah Thompson Eisenberg
Money, Sex, And Sunshine: A Market-Based Approach To Pay Discrimination, Deborah Thompson Eisenberg
Faculty Scholarship
The Equal Pay Act had a distinct market purpose. Congress made a policy choice to modify the existing compensation market so that employees who perform jobs requiring substantially “equal skill, effort, and responsibility” earn equal wages, regardless of sex. The Act aimed not simply to promote individual fairness, but to foster a more efficient, equitable wage market on a systemic level. Congress recognized that paying lower wages to women constituted “an unfair method of competition,” burdened “commerce and the free flow of goods in commerce,” and prevented the “maximum utilization of available labor resources.” Over time, however, the “market” in …
Shattering The Equal Pay Act's Glass Ceiling, Deborah Thompson Eisenberg
Shattering The Equal Pay Act's Glass Ceiling, Deborah Thompson Eisenberg
Faculty Scholarship
This Article provides the first empirical and rhetorical analysis of all reported Equal Pay Act (EPA) federal appellate cases since the Act’s passage. This analysis shows that as women climb the occupational ladder, the manner in which many federal courts interpret the EPA imposes a wage glass ceiling, shutting out women in non-standardized jobs from its protection. This barrier is particularly troubling in light of data that shows that the gender wage gap increases for women as they achieve higher levels of professional status. The Article begins by examining data regarding the greater pay gap for women in upper-level jobs. …