TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Amy Heatherly believes she would have been paid at least $50,000 more to do her job over the past five years if she had been a man.
As the only female human resources director overseeing compensation at the University of Alabama’s main campus, Heatherly said she knew for years she was getting paid less than three men on a similar management level with fewer years of experience.
She filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2014, after receiving a raise that was half of her male colleagues’. In 2016, she sued the university.
“It did not have as much to do with the money but me feeling like I’m paid my worth, or at least paid equitably, like you’re being respected and recognized for what you do,” said Heatherly, 52, who has worked at the university for 19 years.
The university argues differences in pay are justified because her position is not comparable to her male colleagues. Heatherly says that she is a victim of gender discrimination because she’s not receiving equal pay for equal work.
White women in Alabama make 72 cents to a White man’s dollar. Black women make 57 and Latinas 47, the National Women’s Law Center calculated.
Federal law prohibits wage discrimination on the basis of sex for equal work, except where there is a difference in experience or productivity. Alabama and Mississippi are the only two states that don’t have equal pay laws.
