Women’s Soccer Wage Lawsuit Shows Complexities of Equal Pay Laws

Gender pay disparities have become a major part of the national dialogue on sex discrimination, highlighted most recently by the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team’s dual quest for a World Cup title and wages equal to their male counterparts. While the women’s team accomplished that first goal, recent developments in its pay lawsuit reveal that the second may prove far trickier.

Nearly all states have laws on the books that address equal pay, and in 2019 alone, 11 states’ statutes will take effect.

Federal law, meanwhile, prohibits employers from paying workers differently for equal work. But it, as well as ...