Penn State will pay $703,742 in back wages and interest to resolve alleged gender pay discrimination against women employees at the University Park campus.
The U.S Department of Labor says the university also must take steps to make sure its compensation practices and policies are free from discrimination.
Federal investigators say that, since at least July 1, 2020, Penn State paid 65 women employees less than men holding similar positions. Those positions were in facilities operations and maintenance, extension education, senior administration, research professor roles at the College of Engineering and the Applied Research Laboratory, and teaching professor roles at the College of Agricultural Sciences and the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications.
Back pay per person ranges from around $2,500 to more than $47,000.
Penn State did not admit to any wrongdoing in the settlement.
Suzanne Adair, Penn State associate vice president for Equal Opportunity and Access, led the university’s participation in an audit by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. In a statement, Adair said the pay disparities were "unintentional pay discrepancies."
“While the number of affected employees was small relative to the overall campus population, the University takes such matters seriously and worked diligently with the government to reach a resolution that fairly compensated the affected women," Adair said. "We appreciate the government’s efforts and are pleased that the audit identified the pay anomalies so that corrective action could be taken.”
As part of the agreement with the labor department, Penn State must issue notices to the 65 affected women employees within a week of the effective date. President Neeli Bendapudi signed the agreement on Monday, Sept. 16.
Employees must provide their name, address, phone number, email, last four Social Security digits, and sign and return the notice to receive payment. Penn State then has to issue payment within 15 days of receiving that signed document.
