"Robust, contemporaneous documentation is often the most critical factor in determining the applicability of any affirmative defense. The catchall "factor other than sex" defense makes it legal to pay employees different amounts for any number of legitimate business reasons," said Matthew J. Gagnon, Partner, Labor & Employment, Seyfarth Shaw.
Matthew's practice focuses on helping employers navigate the evolving landscape of federal and state wage and hour and anti-discrimination laws and defending employers against all manner of employment litigation and government-initiated investigations and litigation.
In an exclusive interview with HR.com, Matthew touches upon the new trends and developments in equal pay litigation, and how they will impact organizations in 2023 and beyond, among others.
Excerpts from the interview:
Matthew: Probably the most important new trends are: (1) how courts interpret the changes recently made to the state-level equal pay statutes; and (2) the reevaluation of critical issues in equal pay litigation generally.
First, since 2015, a number of states have amended their equal pay statutes in ways that deviate from federal law. Those changes could impact an employee's prima facie case, and the employer's affirmative defenses, in new and unique ways. We will not know exactly what those differences will be until we see how the courts interpret those new statutes.
The relatively...
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