Speedway to Pay Female Managers $12 Million in Equal Pay Lawsuit

Speedway LLC will pay approximately 4,000 female general managers $12.3 million to resolve a class lawsuit alleging male GMs were paid more based on their sex, Philadelphia federal court records show.

Lead plaintiff Nancy De Block filed an unopposed motion for approval of the collective action settlement under the Equal Pay Act with the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Tuesday. De Block worked as a GM for the 7-Eleven Inc. subsidiary at a location in New Jersey from roughly 2014 until July 2017. She and two other women who are no longer part of the case sued in February 2020 alleging they were paid less than male GMs for the same work.

Speedway denied their allegations and doesn’t admit to any liability by agreeing to the settlement, according to the agreement.

The settlement was reached March 2 after a full day of mediation and two months of ensuing negotiations, the agreement said.

Class counsel will collect nearly $4.1 million of the settlement for their attorneys’ fees, as well as reasonable litigation costs and expenses up to $22,624, according to the filing. Settlement administration costs of $41,500 and a $10,000 service award for De Block will also be paid out of the settlement fund, the filing said.

The settlement should be approved by the court because it’s “fair and reasonable,” the motion said.

The class includes all female GMs who worked for Speedway from Nov. 1, 2018, through the date on which notice of the agreement is provided to potential class members, who must opt in to share in the settlement.

Judge Gerald A. McHugh conditionally certified the suit as a collective action in an Oct. 15 ruling.

Hepworth, Gershbaum & Roth PLLC and Weisberg Cummings PC represent De Block and the class. Seyfarth Shaw LLP represents Speedway.

The case is De Block v. Speedway LLC, E.D. Pa., No. 2:20-cv-00824, motion for approval of settlement 5/31/22.