ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Five female employees have filed a lawsuit against the Law Office of the Public Defender accusing the public agency of paying female employees less than men holding the same positions.
A district defender, two managing attorneys and two investigators filed a lawsuit Friday, the Albuquerque Journal reported .
A gender equity study conducted in February found that male employees make about $6.36 more per hour than female employees, the women said.
The office and the Chief Public Defender Bennett Baur have not done anything to eliminate the disparity, the women argue in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges the public agency had the opportunity to rectify the pay disparity when it had nearly $400,000 left over in the 2016-17 fiscal year, but it instead reverted the money to the state.
“I just find it particularly egregious that the agency that is supposed to represent the poor and the downtrodden does not do everything within its power to make sure its own employees are treated fairly and without regard to bias,” said attorney Steven Sanders, who is representing Deirdre Ewing, Heather LeBlanc, Jennifer Barela, Angela White and Tanya Dickinson.
Baur has not had a chance to review the lawsuit, he said Wednesday.
“We try very hard to treat each employee fairly and equitably,” Baur said in an emailed statement. “In each salary decision, qualifications, experience, and tenure with the Department are taken into consideration. If someone feels they have not been treated fairly, we will a take another look at their complaint.”
The women are seeking damages for wages they missed out on over the past six years.
Dickinson and White, who work as senior investigators, argue that they make $14,508 less each year than the average man in the same position.
Female employees for the city of Albuquerque and the University of New Mexico have filed similar lawsuits in recent months.
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Information from: Albuquerque Journal, http://www.abqjournal.com
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