Pay Bias Factor-Other-Than-Sex Defense Doesn’t Need Job Link (1)

A female Culinary Institute of America chef lacked an equal pay claim under federal law, because the organization established that her lower pay than a male chef was based on a factor other than sex, the Second Circuit ruled Tuesday.

A 2-1 majority said it was clarifying the circuit’s standard for a defense under the Equal Pay Act that allows employers to escape liability, even where there’s prima facie evidence of a violation, if they can show a pay differential between female and male employees was based on any other factor.

The factor other than sex offered by an employer ...