A group of more than 20 women faculty members at the University of Colorado Denver recently filed a class action lawsuit against the university, claiming wage discrimination based on their gender, according to a report from Colorado Public Radio.
The suit alleges CU Denver has violated the state of Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, which requires wage transparency, ensuring employees with similar responsibilities are paid the same regardless of their sex. The plaintiffs say the university pays women faculty less than their male peers who hold lower academic ranks, have less experience, and/or work fewer hours.
“It is our hope that all institutions of higher education in Colorado will regularly conduct proper pay equity reviews, correct pay disparities, including paying back pay as well as instituting wage transparency,” said Madeline Collison, the plaintiffs’ attorney.
In 2024, the University of Colorado Boulder was hit with a similar lawsuit, which resulted in a settlement of $4.5 million in attorney fees and missed wages to 386 women faculty members. Both the 2024 suit against CU Boulder and the new suit against CU Denver were spurred by internal analyses conducted at the University of Colorado’s four campuses following the passage of the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act in 2021.
Although CU Denver conducted a pay review in 2022, the plaintiffs say the university refused to share the results with faculty and chose not to correct some disparities revealed in the internal investigation. Furthermore, the plaintiffs claim the pay review did not include faculty in non-tenure track positions. They estimate that at least 250 women in non-tenure-track positions are paid less than their male counterparts, along with roughly 100 women in tenure-track positions.
“It feels rotten and demoralizing,” said plaintiff Sasha Breger Bush, an associate professor in the School of Public Affairs. “All of the faculty at CU Denver work very, very hard, and it would be wonderful if we were paid fairly. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”
Another plaintiff, Jennifer Reich, professor of sociology, added, “I value my colleagues, and I want them to be paid what they’re worth. But that doesn’t mean that other people are also not valuable and shouldn’t be paid what they’re worth. I think there’s just a fundamental misunderstanding of what the law requires.”