Salary History Can’t Defend Lower Pay, 9th Cir. Rules Again (1)

Employers can’t use a worker’s salary history to justify paying her less than male peers, the full Ninth Circuit ruled in a case that could force the U.S. Supreme Court to reckon with a defense to Equal Pay Act claims that critics say perpetuates gender inequities.

Only criteria that are job-related fall under the federal pay law’s any “factor other than sex” defense, the court said. The defense allows employers to escape discrimination liability by pointing to shift differentials, the time of day when work is performed, and similar legitimate distinctions to defeat a claim that it paid a worker ...