The U.S. soccer federation has come to a settlement based on the working conditions the US women’s soccer team deemed as gender discrimination in a lawsuit filed in March 2019.
What We Know:
- The agreement was filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The settlement will include conditions such as team travel, accommodations, and professional support.
- The lawsuit included 28 plaintiffs, amongst them were stars Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, and Alex Morgan. In the lawsuit, the players felt as If they were not treated as well as the US men’s soccer team when it came to their pay, medical treatment, travel arrangements, and overall workload. Within the lawsuit, they described the inconsistencies as “institutionalized gender discrimination”.
- In a statement given in March 2019, team co-captain Morgan stated: “Each of us is extremely proud to wear the United States jersey, and we also take seriously the responsibility that comes with that.” Morgan added, “We believe that fighting for gender equality in sports is a part of that responsibility. As players, we deserved to be paid equally for our work, regardless of our gender.”
- The settlement focused on the inequalities between the U.S. women’s soccer team and the U.S. men’s soccer team, but it does not address the pay inequality claims. In May 2020 a federal Judge in Los Angles dismissed the demands for equality to that of the men’s.
- The spokeswoman for the U.S. women’s team players, Molly Levison, stated the team will still be committed to getting equal pay for the “next generation of women who will play for this team and this country”.
“We are pleased that the USWNT Players have fought for — and achieved — long overdue equal working conditions.” Levison continued, “We now intend to file our appeal to the Court’s decision which does not account for the central fact in this case that women players have been paid at lesser rates than men who do the same job.”
- U.S Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone released a statement Tuesday saying the settlement was “good news for everyone”. She also mentioned that “all equal pay matters” and it is one of her goals to find a resolution for it.
A statement from U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone on today’s agreement with the USWNT.
More: https://t.co/qSenD2fV8T pic.twitter.com/MvC7mTr6tp
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer) December 1, 2020
Equal pay has been a consistent legal dispute between the U.S. women’s soccer team and the U.S Soccer Federation. A complaint was filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission back in 2016 on behalf of five top players.
