The University of Colorado will pay $4.5 million and enact a series of salary transparency measures to settle a claim from female faculty members on the Boulder campus alleging pay discrimination based on gender.
Nearly 400 female-identifying faculty members will receive back pay from the university as part of the agreement reached last week. The school also agreed to conduct follow-up equity analyses every three years; publish Boulder faculty names, job titles, units and salaries on an annual basis to members of the school’s faculty; and maintain a wage transparency database accessible to job applicants.
The school conducted an equity review in 2021 and determined that 386 female-identifying faculty members were being paid less than male staff members for similar roles, in violation of Colorado’s Equal Pay For Equal Work Act.
After the review, CU gave raises to the female faculty members but the school failed to provide back pay as required by the law, the women alleged in a proposed class action lawsuit filed last week after 10 months of negotiation with the university.
Related Articles
Westernaires reenact history with Native American costumes and whoops. Critics say the depictions have no place in a modern West.
CU Boulder condemns pro-Hamas, anti-Israel graffiti on campus
CU Boulder professor named state historian a second time
Nightmare fuel: We asked researchers to name the scariest thing you should worry about
Want to talk to a dead loved one? A CU researcher is teaming with Google to study AI-powered “generative ghosts”
Under the settlement agreement announced by the women’s attorneys, all female CU Boulder faculty members who received a pay increase from the equity review but did not get back pay would be eligible to receive compensation from the school, pending the court’s certification of the class action lawsuit and approval of the agreement.
Katie Little, an English professor and one of the lead plaintiffs, said she first brought up equity concerns in 2015, but was completely shut down by school officials. These pay transparency measures are critical, she said, so female faculty members can advocate for themselves and see if they’re underpaid.
“Our goal is to change the culture at CU,” Little said in an interview Monday.
The university, in the agreement, denied allegations of wrongdoing.
“CU Boulder is committed to providing fair and equitable wages to all employees across all disciplines,” the school said in a statement Monday.
Seth Benezra, an attorney representing the faculty members, said he and his clients hope other higher education institutions in Colorado will follow CU’s lead by “conducting an equity analysis, instituting wage transparency and addressing gender-based wage disparities that we are certain exist.”
“(CU Boulder) is to be commended for taking this case seriously and implementing meaningful changes,” he said in a statement.
Get more Colorado news by signing up for our Mile High Roundup email newsletter.