Catherwood LibraryILR School

Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton proposed the Pay Equity for All Act in Congress after a Court of Appeals ruled that basing a woman’s salary on her previous job is not discriminatory, despite the gender wage gap that could have affected her salary history. Aileen Rizo filed the lawsuit when she learned that a new male hire had a $13,000 higher salary than her. Although a U.S. Magistrate Judge ruled in her favor, the decision was overturned in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Pay Equity for All Act would prohibit employers from asking for an employee’s salary history. Similar legislation was enacted in Massachusetts, D.C., Philadelphia, and, most recently, New York CIty.