New Guidance On The Equal Pay Act

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an important decision last week in Rizo v. Yovino, holding that an employer may not use an employee's prior salary history to justify gender pay disparity under the federal Equal Pay Act.

Aileen Rizo was hired as a school teacher in Fresno County in 2009. In her prior position, Rizo had earned a salary of just over $50,000 per year. The County set Rizo's new salary pursuant to its Standard Operating Procedure No. 1440 ("SOP 1440"), which implemented a 10-level salary scale. SOP 1440 determined a new hire's salary by taking the individual's prior salary, adding 5%, and placing the new employee in the corresponding step of the salary schedule. SOP 1440 placed Rizo in the lowest salary tier, earning $62,133 per year.