Posts by: Tracy Scheidtmann

New Guidance Available for New Jersey Employers About the State’s Equal Pay Act

The State of New Jersey’s Division on Civil Rights (“DCR”) recently issued new Guidance on the Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act (“EPA”).  The EPA, which took effect July 1, 2018, was already the most sweeping equal pay legislation in the nation by strengthening already existing equal pay protections found in the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (“LAD”).  As Governor Murphy announced on March 2, 2020, the Guidance goes even further and “make[s] clear our intentions to eliminate discriminatory pay practices in the Garden State that have historically prevented women and other marginalized groups from earning their fair share.” READ MORE

Legislative Update: Illinois is the Latest State to Join Nationwide Trend of Salary History Ban Laws

Orrick’s Equal Pay Pulse has been tracking the nationwide wave of salary history bans in recent years.  A growing number of states and territories now have laws restricting the use of salary history information, including Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Vermont, and Washington.  Illinois became the latest state to catch this wave with a recent amendment to the Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003. READ MORE

Equal Pay and Equity Status: Recent Wave of Litigation Brings Gender Gap at Major Law Firms to the Forefront

In an emerging trend, law firms have found themselves the targets of recent lawsuits alleging gender discrimination against female partners.  Most recently, Kerrie Campbell, a litigation partner at Chadbourne & Parke’s Washington, D.C. office filed a $100 million proposed class action lawsuit on behalf of all female partners at the firm.  She alleges that Chadbourne’s male-dominated culture leads to unequal compensation for women.  The lawsuit, filed on August 31, 2016, in federal district court in New York, seeks relief under Title VII, the Federal Equal Pay Act, and the District of Columbia Human Rights Act.

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