A federal judge delivered a huge blow this week when he threw out the United States women’s national soccer team’s demands for equal pay. However, the judge did allow their claims of discriminatory travel accommodations and medical support services to go to trial, the Associated Press reported on Friday.
Players filed a lawsuit back in March 2019 that claimed they have not been paid equally under their collective bargaining agreement to what the men’s national team receives under its labor deal. The players were demanding more than $66 million in damages under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“The history of negotiations between the parties demonstrates that the WNT rejected an offer to be paid under the same pay-to-play structure as the MNT, and the WNT was willing to forgo higher bonuses for benefits, such as greater base compensation and the guarantee of a higher number of contracted players,” Klausner wrote.
“Accordingly, plaintiffs cannot now retroactively deem their CBA worse than the MNT CBA by reference to what they would have made had they been paid under the MNT’s pay-to-play terms structure when they themselves rejected such a structure,” he said.
Megan Rapinoe reacted on Twitter:
Alex Morgan soon followed:
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A trial on claims the USSF discriminated in its use of charter aircraft, and in the money it spent on commercial airfare, hotel accommodations, and medical and training support services has been scheduled for June 16 in federal court in Los Angeles.
