Homebuilder Paid Female Purchasing Manager Less than Males for Equal Work, Federal Agency Charged

WASHINGTON - Stanley Martin  Companies, LLC, one of the largest homebuilders in the Mid-Atlantic Region, will pay $45,000 and furnish significant equitable relief to resolve a federal sex-based pay discrimination lawsuit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity  Commission (EEOC) announced today.

EEOC charged  Stanley Martin with refusing to promote Carrie Smith to a purchasing manager position at its Reston, Va. office, due to her sex.  When Stanley Martin finally promoted Smith to the purchasing manager position, she was paid a lower salary than male purchasing managers even though she was doing substantially equal work, EEOC says. 

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of  1964 prohibits discrimination based on sex, including pay discrimination and in making promotion decisions.  The Equal Pay Act of 1963 also prohibits compensation discrimination based on sex.  EEOC  first attempted to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation  process before filing suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division (EEOC v.  Stanley Martin Companies, LLC, Civil Action No. 1:15-cv-01246-AJT/IDD).

Washington Field Office Acting Director Mindy  Weinstein said, "Fairness and the law require that when a woman is doing substantially equal work as her male colleagues, she should get equal pay."

In addition to the $45,000 in monetary relief to Smith, the two-year consent  decree resolving the lawsuit prohibits Stanley Martin from violating Title VII or the EPA.  Stanley Martin will provide  training to all managers, supervisors and employees on the federal laws prohibiting pay discrimination and other forms of sex discrimination.  The company will revise its policies to remove so-called pay secrecy rules which restricted employees from talking  about their own salary with co-workers.   Stanley Martin will also report to EEOC about its compliance with the  consent decree, including how it handles any internal complaints of sex discrimination and will post a notice about the settlement.

"We are pleased this settlement provides full compensation to Ms. Smith for her wage loss and ensures female applicants and employees will not be subjected to discrimination in promotions or pay," said EEOC  Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence.

Enforcement of equal pay laws and targeting compensation systems and practices that  discriminate based on gender is of one of six national priorities identified by EEOC's Strategic Enforcement Plan. 

EEOC's Washington Field Office has jurisdiction over the  District of Columbia and the State of Virginia counties of Arlington, Clarke,  Fairfax, Fauquier, Frederick, Loudoun, Prince William, Stafford and Warren, and  the State of Virginia independent cities of Alexandria, Fairfax City, Falls  Church, Manassas, Manassas Park and Winchester.