A former employee at the University of Vermont is suing the school, saying she was paid less than her male counterparts because of her gender.
The university's student newspaper The Cynic broke this story by obtaining documents from Vermont's Superior Court, and reports that the lawsuit alleges former IT professional in Enterprise Technology Services Cynthia Reuscher experienced "disparities in pay, title and training opportunities." The suit also alleges that she suffered "illegal retaliation" when she complained of the alleged denied access to training opportunities. Reuscher was let go in April due to budget cuts at UVM.
According to the lawsuit, an investigator from the Equal Employment opportunity Commission was sent to UVM to look into Reuscher's claims in 2014.
Cynic reporter Kelsey Neubauer joined us for our Friday Regional Report to talk about the suit.
The University of Vermont released this statement in response to the Cynic story about the lawsuit:
"We are not comfortable talking in detail about a matter that is in litigation, except to say that we strongly deny the allegations raised in the lawsuit. The university has effective internal processes to review any complaint involving discrimination or unfairness in pay. Furthermore, the university regularly reviews pay equity, and when appropriate, upon review of the individual facts, makes necessary adjustments. We work hard to ensure that our employment and compensation practices are fair and equitable, and we are confident we will prevail in court."
Update 6:35 p.m. This post was updated to include the university's statement.
