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   A          Congressional                                                     ____
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U.S. Women's Soccer Team and Equal Pay



October 23, 2019
U.S. Women's National Team's (USWNT) efforts to obtain pay equal to the pay provided to the U.S.
Men's National Team (USMNT) by the U.S. Soccer Federation rose to prominence during the team's
successful quest for the Women's World Cup 2019, the team's fourth such title since 1991. The members
of the USWNT and USMNT share the same employer, U.S. Soccer, with whom each team has a
collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The USWNT efforts have led to discussions over whether U.S.
Soccer has complied with key anti-discrimination laws regarding pay equity.

Recent Developments

On March 30, 2016, four members of the USWNT each filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The suits, which were filed on behalf of these players
and all similarly situated WNT players, alleged that U.S. Soccer had discriminated against them on the
basis of sex. As reported, the EEOC ended its investigation of the matter on February 5, 2019, when it
issued right to sue letters to the [four] players. On March 8, 2019, 28 players filed a complaint against
U.S. Soccer, claiming that the organization had violated the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, as amended. The players allege that U.S. Soccer discriminates against Plaintiffs, and
the class that they seek to represent, by paying them less than members of the MNT for substantially
equal work and by denying them at least equal playing, training, and travel conditions; equal promotion of
their games; equal support and development for their games; and other terms and conditions of
employment equal to the MNT.
On June 21, 2019, the 28 players who filed suit and U.S. Soccer agreed to begin mediation following the
conclusion of the World Cup, which ended on July 7 with the United States victory over the Netherlands
in the championship game.
On July 29, U.S. Soccer President Carlos Cordeiro posted an open letter stating that U.S. Soccer
believes that all female athletes deserve fair and equitable pay. He added that the USWNT and USMNT
have different pay structures, not because of gender, but because each team chose to negotiate a different
compensation package with U.S. Soccer. The current USWNT-U.S. Soccer CBA was signed on April 5,
2017, and expires December 31, 2021.
Mediation talks began in early August but ended shortly thereafter on August 14, 2019. Subsequently,
Judge R. Gary Klausner of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California set a trial date of

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