A federal judge has ruled in favor of Dr. Clare Mundell, a clinical psychologist formerly of Northern Light Acadia Hospital who sued the Bangor hospital after discovering she was being paid about half the hourly wage of her male counterparts.
U.S. District Judge Lance E. Walker ruled that Acadia Hospital violated the Maine Equal Pay Act by paying Mundell less than her male colleagues for comparable work, and that Acadia now owes her triple damages for lost wages, according to a news release issued Wednesday by law firm Johnson, Webbert & Garvan LLP, which represented Mundell.
“The evil redressed by (the Equal Pay Act) is decidedly the impact of unequal pay for comparable work, regardless of the employer’s motivation,” Walker wrote in his decision.
Mundell joined Acadia Hospital, an acute care and mental health facility, as a pool psychologist in November 2017. She became part of a team with four others who were responsible for a range of services, including psychological testing, consultation, individual and group psychotherapy and crisis intervention. She had prior experience in both public and psychiatric hospitals and operated private practices in two different states. Her hourly rate was set at $50.
Acadia Hospital was a part of Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems when Mundell was first hired. That organization was renamed Northern Light Health in 2018, not long after it merged with Mercy Health System, which operates Mercy Hospital in Portland, among other health...
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