A settlement has been reached in a massive lawsuit involving the City of Albuquerque and hundreds of women fighting for pay equality.
The city, according to a KOB report, will pay $17 million to settle a lawsuit brought by female city employees arguing they weren’t being paid equivalent to their male counterparts. The collective-action lawsuit now needs a judge’s signature of approval during a hearing set for Nov. 17.
“They were initially upset about these kinds of wage gaps,” Albuquerque attorney Alexandra Smith, who represents women in the lawsuit, told KOB. “We’re really happy to have reached a settlement agreement that ensures that our clients will receive everything that they are owed.”
A total of 431 women, all city employees, joined the lawsuit. Some of their claims date back to 2013. The attorney said some of the plaintiffs will be awarded a few hundred dollars, while others could get more than $100,000 in compensation and back pay. Their wages and salaries also will increase along with upgrades in their retirement benefits.
The female employees said the city “systematically” paid women less than men – $3 to $6 an hour less, according to the lawsuit.
“We found that there were women who had pay disparities across many different departments and many different job descriptions across the city,” Smith said. The list included employees from bus drivers, to cashiers, to Albuquerque Police Department staff, to people in city offices.
A city spokesperson told KOB in a statement that it’s committed to equity, and “This is about righting a decade-old wrong, and ensuring a lawful pay structure for all employees.”