Employer-Employee: Equal Pay Act-Lack of Comparators-Legitimate Justification for Pay Disparity

Plaintiff appealed the district court’s adverse grant of summary judgment on her Equal Pay Act claim. Plaintiff received a base salary of $200,000 when defendant employed a male in an identically-titled position, who received a base salary of $275,000. During discovery, defendant justified the pay disparity by asserting that the male employee brought broad experience from another firm and noting that plaintiff also received overtime compensation and had a more generous incentive compensation plan.

Where plaintiff’s alleged comparators either were paid less than her or did not perform equal work, the district court correctly dismissed the complaint on summary judgment where defendant was able to cite legitimate, nondiscriminatory justifications for the disparity in base salary.

Judgment is affirmed.

O’Reilly v. Daugherty Systems, Inc. (MLW No. 79664/Case No. 21-3465 – 5 pages) (U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit, Erickson, J.) Appealed from U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, Clark, J. (Matthew Ghio, of St. Louis, MO for appellant) (Abigail B. Schwab, of St. Louis, MO for appellee; Andrew J. Martone, of St. Louis, MO and Willie Thomas McGarry, of St. Louis, MO on the brief)