Pennsylvania State University will settle a gender discrimination suit that impacted female employees for a fee of $703,742.
The world-renowned education facility has agreed to a conciliation agreement with the Department of Labor that closes the alleged gender pay discrimination.
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) conducted a review that found that since 2020, Penn State had allegedly paid sixty-five female employees less than male employees in similar vocations.
These roles included senior stakeholders, administration, and faculty staff. Includingesearch professors at the College of Engineering and the Applied Research Laboratory and some female faculty in teaching professor roles at the College of Agricultural Sciences and the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications.
Penn State to pay to resolve gender pay gap claims
“Employers that hold federal contracts must provide all employees with equal employment opportunities and audit their employment processes to make certain no barriers to equal employment exist,” said Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Mid-Atlantic Regional Director Samuel B. Maiden in Philadelphia.
The OFCCP investigation found that Executive Order 11246 was breached. This crucial piece of employment legislation “prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin.”
This case would have been a major bloody nose for the biggest higher education center in the state. In 2024, the university also received $178 million in payments from federal contracts with agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NASA, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Departments of Defense and Agriculture.
“The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs ensures that federal contractors provide workplaces free from discrimination. Penn State must ensure its employment practices comply with all federal law, including those seeking to eliminate gender-based barriers to equal employment,” remarked Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program Acting Director Michele Hodge.
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