Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit brought by women full professors alleging long-standing gender-based pay discrimination between men and women faculty members. The liberal arts college was founded in 1861 as a women’s college and became co-educational in 1970.
Represented by Equal Rights Advocates (ERA) and Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Berstein, five current and former women full professors — Wendy Graham, Maria Höhn, Mia Mask, Cindy Schwarz, and Debra Zeifman — filed the lawsuit in August 2023 with support from other faculty members, both women and men, as well as students and alumni. The suit alleged that Vassar had known for years of a gender pay gap among its full professors but failed to address it.
A recent statement from ERA confirms that the proposed settlement, which must be approved by the court, will provide a $5 million settlement fund to compensate some 84 professors who were impacted by the pay discrimination. Additionally, the college has agreed to enhance transparency regarding compensation, promotion, and performance evaluation decisions; commission annual pay equity audits by an independent, third-party consultant; and report annually to ERA and Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Berstein on its compliance with these commitments.
“This step reflects years of efforts by women faculty members at Vassar, first privately and then in court, to get Vassar to eliminate a gender-based pay gap of which the college has long been aware,” said Catherine Bendor, director of litigation at ERA and co-counsel for the plaintiffs. “Our clients worked hard to achieve justice not only for themselves and their colleagues, but for all future women professors. We hope the terms of the proposed settlement, and the experience of this lawsuit, will result in Vassar appropriately recognizing the contributions of all of its women faculty.”
Kelly Dermody, partner at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein and co-lead counsel for plaintiffs, added, “We are proud of our clients’ longstanding efforts to enhance Vassar as a leader on issues of gender equity. The settlement reflects their deep care for the institution and all of its stakeholders.”