Company Underpaid Executive Because of Her Gender, Federal Agency Charges

DALLAS - NFI RoadRail, LLC and NFI Industries, Inc., New Jersey-based businesses that provide logistics, transportation and warehouse services to manufacturers and retailers, will pay $45,000 and furnish other relief to settle a gender-based discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency recently announced.

EEOC charged that NFI paid a female director of intermodal operations in its Irving, Texas location less than three male directors. When her male counterparts were fired, she was put back into the job but paid a lower annual salary. The woman learned she was being paid less when she came across a pay stub of the male who had vacated the job she was moving into.

Pay discrimination is illegal under the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), which prohibits sex-based wage differentials for work requiring equal skill, effort and responsibility performed under the same or similar working conditions. It is also illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination, including compensation, on the basis of sex. Both statutes are enforced by EEOC and were violated by NFI according to EEOC's lawsuit. EEOC filed its lawsuit (Civil Action No. 3:14-cv-00181-N) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

As part of the consent decree resolving the suit, signed by Judge David C. Godbey, NFI will pay $45,000 the pay discrimination victim. NFI also agreed to ensure that its employment policies conform to the law in the future, will provide anti-discrimination training under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and post an equal employment opportunity notice at the workplace. The company will promptly and fairly investigate allegations of sex-based wage discrimination.

"Equal pay for equal work is a fundamental civil right," said Patrick Connor, senior trial attorney in EEOC's San Antonio Field Office. "From entry-level jobs to highly paid management positions, women should be paid equal to men, period."

EEOC Supervisory Trial Attorney Eduardo Juarez said, "Addressing sex-based pay disparity in the workplace remains a priority for EEOC. This lawsuit again demonstrated EEOC's ongoing commitment to eliminating sex bias in the workplace."

EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the agency is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.