Engine-maker settles wage and gender discrimination lawsuit

On Behalf of | Apr 3, 2019 | Employment Law

The most popular vehicles at the Dodge Ram dealerships in the Milwaukee area are the company’s pick-up trucks. One of the most popular options on those trucks is a Cummins turbo diesel engine. Though Cummins is often lauded for its powerful, efficient engines, the Fortune 500 corporation has also come under criticism for discriminatory pay practices.

The company recently settled a gender pay discrimination lawsuit filed by a female former employee. The suit alleged that Cummins paid the woman less for her HR job than a male employee who performed the very same job.

The diesel engine maker denied wrongdoing, but recently agreed to settle the woman’s lawsuit for $77,500 and other considerations.

The woman worked on the business side of Cummins, enrolling other workers in benefits programs. When she asked the company to conduct a salary review to determine if she was being appropriately compensated, the company agreed. Though Cummins found that it was paying her less than the man performing the same duties, she didn’t get a raise.

She still had not seen a salary increase by the time she left the company nearly a year later, she said in her lawsuit filed in federal court. She also claimed that by denying her equal pay for equal work, Cummins violated both the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

On its website, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states that “the Equal Pay Act requires that men and women be given equal pay for equal work in the same establishment.” The EEOC is just as clear about Title VII, which states that employers cannot “discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”

As part of the settlement, Cummins has agreed to train its employees – including HR and management – on how to comply with the two pieces of employment law.

You, too, can stand up for your rights and deserved compensation. Contact the Milwaukee employment law firm of Alan C. Olson & Associates if your employer is denying you equal pay for equal work.

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