A $1 million jury verdict was reversed by the Iowa Supreme Court, which concluded an employee’s suit for illegal wage discrimination based on sex and wrongful retaliation lacked substantial evidence.
The court held in a Feb. 2 decision that the record didn’t contain substantial evidence of an illegal pay practice, with the employer, Des Moines Area Community College, demonstrating that the pay gap between the female employee and her male co-worker was due to gender-neutral factors, including seniority and the “decision made to hire the male employee in 1998 at a particular rate based on market conditions and the employee’s considerable experience.”
