Published in Journal of Legal strongEconomicsstrong, Vol.11, Num.3, Winter.pdfVIP

Published in Journal of Legal Economics , Vol.11, Num.3, Winter 2001-02, pp. 69-85. The Economist’s Role in Equal Pay Act Litigation By Lawrence M. Spizman Professor of Economics State University of New York at Oswego 424 Mahar Hall Oswego, New York 13126 315.343.7631 fax 315.343.8006 email spizman@ INTRODUCTION The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits employers from discriminating against employees by paying higher wages to members of the opposite sex who are performing equal work on jobs that require equal skill, effort, and responsibility. Equal Pay Act (EPA) violations usually become part of a multiple count sex discrimination lawsuit.1 It is not uncommon in Title VII cases for economists to use statistical techniques to prove sex discrimination. However, economists are rarely used in EPA cases. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the economist’s role in demonstrating whether a violation of the EPA has occurred. There are two reasons why economists are seldom used in EPA litigation.2 First, there are very few cases filed under the EPA. Between 1985 and 1997, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed 164 cases and resolved 251 lawsuits under the EPA. (Castro 1998) During this same period the EEOC recovered over $16 million dollars under the EPA itself or in combination with Title VII. These numbers are almost insignificant when compared to