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Joe Biden Tells USWNT 'Don't Give Up' Wage Fight; Issues Ultimatum to USSF
May 2, 2020
Former United States vice president and current presidential candidate Joe Biden expressed support for the U.S. women's national team in their fight for equal pay Saturday.
Biden took to Twitter to encourage the USWNT to keep fighting and inform the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) that there will be repercussions should he be elected president and if the governing body continues to refuse equal pay:
According to ESPN's Graham Hays, a federal judge in California dismissed the USWNT's wage discrimination lawsuit Friday, noting that the players "have not demonstrated a triable issue that WNT players are paid less than MNT players."
Per Hays, the decision was based largely on financial information U.S. Soccer provided to Judge R. Gary Klausner. U.S. Soccer reported to Klausner that the women's national team averaged $220,747 per game in total payments and the men's national team averaged $212,639 per game in total payments from 2015 to '19.
While the judge could have ruled that U.S. Soccer violated the Equal Pay Act even though women's national team players earned more in total than men's national team players, the plaintiffs were deemed unable to prove that the higher payment was only a result of the women's players participating in more matches than the men's players.
It was determined that language in the USWNT's collective bargaining agreement led to unequal play rather than discrimination from the USSF.
USWNT players Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan were among those who said they would continue their fight:
While the judge dismissed the wage discrimination lawsuit, he did not dismiss the allegation that U.S. Soccer discriminated against the USWNT with imbalanced workplace conditions, which would be a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The USWNT alleges that U.S. Soccer discriminated against them with substandard charter flights and hotel accommodations and medical and training support compared to the men's team.
While the USWNT could still win that part of the lawsuit, spokesperson Molly Levinson said the the U.S. women's players plan to appeal the decision on unequal pay.
Unless a settlement is agreed upon, the Title VII portion of the lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial on June 16.