US Women's Soccer Team File Discrimination Lawsuit

LOS ANGELES - All 28 current members of the United States women’s soccer team have filed a lawsuit against US Soccer’s governing body alleging years of “institutionalized gender discrimination”. The players are seeking equal pay with their male counterparts. The US Women’s team are the reigning world champions whereas the men’s team failed to reach the 2018 World Cup.

The lawsuit, filed on International Women’s Day, seeks pay and treatment parity with the men’s team. The players are also seeking compensation for any player who has appeared for the US since February 2015.

The lawsuit states: "Despite the fact that these female and male players are called upon to perform the same job responsibilities on their teams and participate in international competitions for their single common employer, the USSF, the female players have been consistently paid less money than their male counterparts.

"This is true even though their performance has been superior to that of the male players, with the female players, in contrast to male players, becoming world champions."

“Each of us is extremely proud to wear the United States jersey, and we also take seriously the responsibility that comes with that. We believe that fighting for gender equality in sports is a part of that responsibility. As players, we deserved to be paid equally for our work, regardless of our gender,” team co-captain Alex Morgan said in a statement.

This is not the first time the team have been in dispute with US Soccer. In 2016, five high-profile players – Carli Lloyd, Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Hope Solo – filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging wage discrimination. The two sides eventually agreed a settlement in 2017. Terms of the deal were not released but were believed to include increases in pay and allowances but were not thought to guarantee equal pay with the male team.

According to The Guardian, US Soccer maintains that the disparity between the women’s and men’s teams is due to separate labor agreements and that bonuses from World Cups are set by FIFA, the international governing body of the game, rather than national federations.

Yet according to US Soccer’s own financial disclosures, over the last three years the women’s team brought in more revenue than their male counterparts, and their victory in the 2015 World Cup final was the most-watched soccer match in US history.

Despite those facts, The Guardian reports that until last year the US women’s coach, Jill Ellis, was paid less than the men’s Under-23 coach. In the 2016 wage discrimination case it was revealed that male players were given per diems of $75 when traveling abroad while female players were only given $60. Team co-captain Carli Lloyd joked at the time: “Maybe they figure that women are smaller and eat less.”

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Los Angeles. US Soccer has yet to formally respond.

The team begin defense of their World Cup title in June, in France.