EEOC: Md. Regulatory Agency Violated Equal Pay Act

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against the Maryland Insurance Administration (MIA), alleging that Maryland’s insurance regulatory agency paid its women investigators and enforcement officers lower wages compared to their male counterparts.

The EEOC filed its complaint on April 15 at the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Northern Division.

MIA spokesperson Vivian D. Laxton told Insurance Journal that MIA strongly disputes the allegations. “The case will be vigorously defended,” the spokesperson said.

In its complaint, the EEOC alleges that the MIA has violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Equal Pay Act by paying Alexandra Cordaro, Mary Jo Rogers, Marlene Green, and a class of similarly situated female employees lower wages than those paid to their male colleagues for performing equal work as investigators and/or enforcement officers.

“The practices include paying wages to its female investigators and/or enforcement officers at rates less than the rates paid to male employees in the same establishment for substantially equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions,” the EEOC alleged in the complaint. This alleged unlawful practice was willful and has been taking place since at least December 2009, according to the EEOC.

The EEOC is seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting the MIA from engaging in its alleged practice. The EEOC also requested that the MIA implement programs which provide equal employment opportunities for women and which eradicate the effects of its alleged past and present unlawful employment practices. The EEOC also requested that the MIA pay appropriate back wages in amounts to be determined.