Supply Distributer Paid Female Employees Less Than Male Coworkers, Federal Agency Charges

HARRISBURG, Pa. -Fastenal Company, an international industrial and construction supply distributor, violated federal law when it paid female sales support employees lower wages than men, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it announced today.

According to the EEOC's lawsuit, Fastenal paid two female sales support employees lower hourly wages than their male coworkers at its Manchester, Pa., facility, even though the women were doing substantially equal work. One of the women trained two of her male coworkers when they were hired, yet she received lower wages, the EEOC charges.

Such alleged conduct violates the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Fastenal Company, Civil Action No. 1:18-cv-01753-CCC) in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania after first attempting to reach a voluntary pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

"Women  should be paid equal wages when they do the same work as male coworkers," said EEOC  Philadelphia District Office Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence. "Fairness and federal law require it."

EEOC Philadelphia District Office Director Jamie R. Williamson added, "Remedying pay discrimination is a priority issue for the EEOC." 

The EEOC's Philadelphia District Office is one of four offices in the Philadelphia District, which has jurisdiction over Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and parts of New Jersey and Ohio. Attorneys in the Philadelphia  District Office also prosecute discrimination cases in Washington, D.C. and parts of Virginia.

Ensuring equal pay protections for all workers is of one of six national priorities identified by the EEOC's Strategic Enforcement Plan.