USWNT suffer serious setback in equal pay lawsuit as judge sides with USSF

A judge in California has sided with the U.S. Soccer Federation on many important claims in the USWNT’s equal pay lawsuit.

U.S. District Court Judge R. Gary Klausner has dealt a major blow to the U.S. Women’s National Team’s (USWNT) equal pay lawsuit. On Friday, Klausner sided with the U.S. Soccer Federation in a motion for summary judgment on many of the USWNT’s major claims of gender discrimination, including their Equal Pay Act Claim. A trial will still move forward for discrimination based on travel conditions and personnel support.

In his decision on the Equal Pay Act Claim, Klausner said that the USWNT failed to show that they were systematically underpaid compared to their U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) counterparts. In fact, the ruling says that U.S. Soccer successfully argued that the women have “been paid more on both a cumulative and an average per-game basis” than the men over the period covered by the lawsuit.

Klausner also found that the USWNT did not prove that turf conditions were a source of gender discrimination. The U.S. women has been asked to play on turf surfaces more frequently than their male counterparts, putting them at a higher risk for injury.

The decision was disappointing for many who have been fighting this battle for years. But it is not a total victory for U.S. Soccer, who will still have to face the other two claims in court and who suffered a major defeat in the court of public opinion. The criticism of the federation’s argument that the idea that men are physically superior to women is “indisputable science” cost former U.S. Soccer President Carlos Cordeiro his job.

Following the announcement from the U.S. District Court judge, Molly Levinson, the spokesperson for the USWNT in the lawsuit, said that the team was “shocked and disappointed” by the decision and that they plan to appeal. The U.S. Soccer Federation said that they looked forward to working with the USWNT to “chart a positive path forward.”

Many players took to social media on Friday night to express their disappointment. Megan Rapinoe, who has become the face of the USWNT since the 2019 Women’s World Cup, said that the team “will never stop fighting for EQUALITY.” Becky Sauerbrunn said, “we have a lot of fight left in us.”

This is a major setback for the USWNT, but as the players have indicated, their fight for equality will continue with an appeal and beyond. The trial on the two remaining claims is scheduled to begin on June 16th.