The female police dispatchers in Nassau County had bought their wage discrimination lawsuit in 2005, alleging that despite performing substantially similar work, they were making less money than male fire communications technicians. Nassau County settled the matter and the settlement was approved by U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen Tomlinson in December 2011.
Following the settlement, in May 2012, male police dispatchers filed their lawsuit against the county and the county police department asserting cause of action under the U.S. and New York Equal Pay Acts and Nassau County Government Law, Section 1307. Section 1307, essentially stipulates equal pay for equal work for county employees, as does Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Joseph Bianco refused a motion by Nassau County to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the male police dispatchers. The defendants argued that a settlement with female police dispatchers did not constitute a wage or salary increase, and it should not be subject to equal pay claims stemming from a settlement.
However, the judge observed that the federal equal pay statute provided “no exception if the gender-based unequal pay structure arose from a voluntary settlement by the employer in another lawsuit.”
While refusing summary judgment and dismissal of the lawsuit, Bianco observed, “The mere fact that an alleged discriminatory pay structure is the product of a voluntary settlement by an employer with other parties in a separate lawsuit, even with court approval, does not automatically immunize the employer from liability under the discrimination laws.”
The case is Volpe v. Nassau County, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, No. 12-2416.
