“Expecting girls and women to be exceptional just to be considered equal only perpetuates the dynamics by which girls and women experience discrimination in the first place,” NBC opinion writer Cheryl Cookie said.
In February of last year, the United States Women’s Soccer Team concluded its case about equal pay. It is believed to be the first time women athletes in the U.S. sued their employer for gender discrimination — and succeeded, according to NBC News.
Last week, the USWST was honored for its fight for equality in pay by being named USA Today’s Women of the Year.
The case began in 2016 when the team filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It “alleged that despite the women’s team generating $20 million in revenue the year before, the team paid the women players four times less than the men,” NBC News said.
According to the New York Times, all-star goalkeeper Hope Solo, co-captains Carli Lloyd and Becky Sauerbrunn, forward Alex Morgan and midfielder Megan Rapinoe filed the first complaint.
They cited the U.S. Soccer financial reports showing they often earned only half or less than their male counterparts, despite their recent victory at the World Cup.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” said Solo to the New York Times. Solo said the men’s players “get paid more to just show up than we get paid to win major championships.”
The USWST took action, and in less than a year, they had made union chief changes and reorganized their player’s union, giving them a more active role.
However, this did little for the team’s goals in the long run. By 2019 “the players withdrew their E.E.O.C. complaint and significantly raised the stakes by suing U.S. Soccer for gender discrimination,” the New York Times said.
This fight continued to grow as widespread support for the women’s cause was rallied during the 2019 France World Cup, with the women later demanding a $67 million settlement.
In 2020, the court fought this with hopes of a settlement crumbling.
“The spark was a court filing in which U.S. Soccer, through its lawyers, argued that ‘indisputable science’ proved that the players on its World Cup-winning women’s national team were inferior to men,” the New York Times said.
Shortly after, the overseeing judge, R. Gary Klausner, “granted the federation’s motion for summary judgment,” The New York Times said. “The judge dismissed the players’ arguments that they were systematically underpaid by U.S. Soccer in comparison with the men’s national team.”
However, the case did not die there. Small victories were won in 2020, allowing them to appeal it in federal court.
The eventual settlement for the gender discrimination lawsuit was reached in February 2022.
“Now the U.S. Soccer Federation, the sport’s governing body, has agreed to pay the players $24 million, including back pay, and made a commitment to compensate men and women players equally in competitions, including the World Cup,” NBC News said.
“I think achieving equal pay with US soccer is an accomplishment not just for soccer players. I truly believe we have impacted women across all avenues and all aspects of life. And I really think that’s what we wanted our impact to be,” Crystal Dunn, a US Women’s National Team player, told USA Today.
With the long-fought battle over, Dunn sees this expanding beyond just soccer.
“Others can join in by one being fans of the women’s game and really advocating for [them] to keep going,” Dunn said to USA Today. “And overall, people doing what’s right, I think what we fought for doesn’t just translate in the sports world.”