” California law prohibits an employer from paying any of its employees at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of the opposite sex for substantially similar work, and performed under similar working conditions.”
Dandan Pan started work at Qualcomm, Inc. as a Market Analyst in 1993. In 2015, she was a Director of Engineering Operations. Throughout her time at Qualcomm, Ms. Pan was paid less than other male co-workers who performed equal or substantially similar work to her. Ms. Pan claimed that her male co-workers actually received higher pay for performing equal work, despite the lower quality of their work.
Qualcomm also did not promote Ms. Pan as frequently as her less-qualified male peers. Ms. Pan says that even after leading several major projects, earning stellar ratings in her performance evaluations, and repeatedly expressing interest in being promoted, her last promotion was in 2003. Meanwhile, she saw many less qualified male peers receive promotions.
As a working mother, Ms. Pan experienced being deprived of her rights to take protected leave to care for children.
Ms. Pan was not alone in her experience at Qualcomm. Six other women, all engineers at Qualcomm, came forward to say that they, too, experienced being paid less than other male co-workers who performed equal or substantially similar work to them. They also experienced being passed over for promotion in favor of less qualified male peers. More disturbing, as women who were pregnant and have children, they also experienced discrimination because of their gender and caregiving responsibilities.
Ms. Pan and her fellow Qualcomm employees filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) accusing Qualcomm of, among other things, gender discrimination and pregnancy and family responsibilities discrimination.
Qualcomm is a multi-billion semiconductor and telecom equipment company based in San Diego, CA but operating throughout the United States. The employees claimed that in Qualcomm, women in science, technology, engineering, and math (“STEM”) and related occupations are discriminated in pay and promotions. Upper-level management positions are almost exclusively reserved for men. Qualcomm’s own reports indicate that women hold less than 15% of what the company defines as “senior leadership positions.” Throughout Qualcomm’s U.S. operations, women in STEM and related positions earn less than their male colleagues performing equal or substantially similar work. This pay and promotion discrimination is even worse for women with children.
The employees also allege that these problems affecting pay, promotion, and assignments are systemic and company-wide and result from centralized decision-making by the company’s primarily male senior leadership team.
Faced with a potentially expensive class action lawsuit, Qualcomm agreed to settle the employees’ claims by agreeing to pay $19.5 million to about 3,300 female employees affected by the lawsuit. In addition to the monetary settlement, Qualcomm was required to enact extensive company changes including hiring two independent consultants who will assess the company’s policies and practices and make recommendations regarding changes at Qualcomm in order to prevent continuing discrimination against its female work force.
California law prohibits an employer from paying any of its employees at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of the opposite sex for substantially similar work, and performed under similar working conditions. If differences in wages exist, the difference must be legally justified based on one or more of the following factors:
a) A seniority system
b) A merit system
c) A system that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production
d) A bona fide factor other than sex, such as education, training, or experience.
Discriminated employees will be entitled to monetary damages, including the right to recover attorneys’ fees and costs.
* * *
The Law Offices of C. Joe Sayas, Jr. welcomes inquiries about this topic. All inquiries are confidential and at no-cost. You can contact the office at (818) 291-0088 or visit www.joesayaslaw.com.
* * *
C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is an experienced trial attorney who has successfully obtained significant recoveries for thousands of employees and consumers. He is named Top Labor & Employment Attorney in California by the Daily Journal, consistently selected as Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine, and is a member of the Million Dollar-Advocates Forum.