Women soccer players have complained that they are not paid the same as their counterparts on the U.S. Men's National Team. How would this play in the courts? California passed amendments to Labor Code section 1197.5 through the California Fair Pay Act, which mandates equal pay for substantially equivalent work. It passed without controversy and with the approval of the California Chamber of Commerce. Yesenia Gallegos and I gave a webinar on the act recently.
What does it mean? Is a chemical engineer's work substantially equivalent to that of an electrical engineer? Women tennis players have argued successfully that their show is as good as (or better than) that of the men. Is the women's soccer game substantially equivalent? Perhaps the courts will decide.
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