The Justice Department has reached a settlement agreement to resolve a gender-based pay discrimination lawsuit filed in January 2023 against the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs (WDMA). The lawsuit alleged that the WDMA discriminated against former employee Michelle Hartness, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, when it offered her a lower salary than similarly or less qualified men for a director position in the Wisconsin Division of Emergency Management.
Title VII is a federal statute that prohibits pay discrimination and other forms of employment discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, or religion.
“It is time to close the gender pay gap which stands as one of the most pressing problems that we face in the labor market today. This settlement agreement demonstrates the Justice Department’s strong commitment to vindicating the rights of qualified job applicants and employees who are offered or paid less simply because they are women,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We will continue to aggressively hold state and local government employers accountable when they unlawfully deny women the right to bring home the full paycheck they have rightly earned.”
Under the settlement agreement, WDMA will pay Ms. Hartness a $175,000 monetary award. By signing the agreement, WDMA also confirms that it maintains antidiscrimination and other personnel policies to prevent compensation discrimination, including a pay-setting policy to establish consistency in setting salaries, and that it trains personnel on the pay-setting policy.
Ms. Hartness filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC’s Milwaukee Area Office investigated the charge and found reasonable cause to believe that Ms. Hartness was discriminated against because of her sex. After unsuccessful conciliation efforts, the EEOC referred the charge to the Justice Department.
Senior Trial Attorneys Patricia Stasco, Christine Dinan and Catherine Sellers and Trial Attorney Young Choi of the Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation Section handled the case.
The full and fair enforcement of Title VII is a top priority of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division and its Employment Litigation Section is available at www.justice.gov/crt/ and www.justice.gov/crt/employment-litigation-section.