Dive Brief:

• Baltimore-based Jerry’s Chevrolet and its affiliate, Jerry’s Motor Car, settled a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit alleging they paid a female employee less than a male employee for doing equal work and fired her for complaining about the lower pay, the EEOC announced Nov. 30 (EEOC v. Jerry’s Chevrolet, Inc., No. 21-02464 (N.D. Md. Sept. 27, 2021)).
• The employee worked as a warehouse dispatcher, according to court documents. Per the complaint, she discovered that a male dispatcher was being paid almost $800 more per month than she was being paid. Also, the dealership allegedly paid him, but not her, a monthly bonus. She complained to the HR director, who allegedly told her that he’d look into it. He fired her a week later; the dealerships reportedly said she was overheard using sexually graphic language during a break.
• The EEOC sued the dealerships, alleging they violated the Equal Pay Act and retaliated against the employee in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Pursuant to a consent decree, the dealerships agreed to pay more than $62,000; implement a policy that creates a way for employees to report unequal pay; and adopt procedures to handle their complaints, the EEOC said. Jerry’s did not provide a comment before press time.

Dive Insight:

Addressing discriminatory pay disparities is one of the EEOC’s top priorities, then-Commissioner, now-EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows pointed out during a 2019 American Bar...

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