photo credit: Aneese // Shutterstock
On International Women’s day, the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team is suing the U.S. Soccer Federation due to unequal pay. All 28 players have filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the league, just month before they fight for their Women’s World Cup title.
Complaints about pay discrimination were made by 5 players to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2016, but since nothing has been done, they were given permission to sue as the next step.
The women say the discrimination is not only in their paychecks but also in where they play, how often they play, how they’re trained, medical treatments, coaching they receive and even how they travel to their matches. They are asking for backpay, damages and other relief for current and former players dating back to February 2015.
The women’s players argue that they are required to play more games than the men’s team, win more of them, and yet still receive lesser pay from the federation.
Written by Clarke Jones