LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a lawsuit June 12 against G4S Youth Services Inc. for allegations of paying a female facility investigator less than it paid the male employee who formerly held the position.
G4S Youth Services is a company that formerly managed programs and services at a juvenile detention center in Alexander, Arkansas. The company hired a male as a facility investigator; six months later, a female employee took over the position. G4S Youth Services purportedly paid the woman $10,000 less per year than the male employee for substantially equal work.
EEOC seeks monetary damages, including back pay, liquidated damages and compensatory and punitive damages, for the female employee. It also seeks injunctive relief to bar the company from further discrimination.
"As we approach the 54th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, we are reminded of President Kennedy's remark that Congress passed the law 'to call attention to the unconscionable practice of paying female employees less wages than male employees for the same job,'" said Katharine W. Kores, district director of the EEOC's Memphis District Office, which has jurisdiction over Arkansas, Tennessee and portions of Mississippi. "Companies must pay women equal wages for equal work. In 2016, the EEOC received over 1,000 charges alleging violation of the EPA, which shows that we have our work cut out for us. The EEOC remains committed to eradicating all gender-based discrimination."