[Updated (8/11/2016, 6:30 p.m.) with a response from the university.]
The U.S. Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against New Mexico State University, alleging that the university paid a female former assistant track coach significantly less than her male colleagues, the department announced on Thursday.
The department’s complaint accuses the university of paying the female coach, Meaghan Harkins, thousands of dollars less per year than it paid two male assistant track coaches with similar responsibilities. The department alleges that the university violated a federal law that prohibits employment discrimination based on sex.
Ms. Harkins originally filed a sex-discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The commission investigated the complaint and concluded that there was reasonable cause to believe that the university had discriminated against Ms. Harkins, according to a news release. The commission then referred the matter to the Justice Department.
Lizbeth Ellis, the university’s general counsel, said in a written statement to The Chronicle that the university was committed to equal pay, and disputed the claim that Ms. Harkins had served in the same position as the other track coaches. Ms. Harkins originally volunteered her time to help the team, and the university then created a third-tier paid coaching position to compensate her, Ms. Ellis said.
Ms. Ellis also said the university is prepared to provide a settlement in order to avoid the costs of a lawsuit, but no settlement has been finalized.
“We intend to make every effort to ensure that the case at hand is resolved amicably and fairly,” she said, “while at the same time protecting the taxpayers of New Mexico from federal demands that far exceed the equal pay for equal work principle that we share.”
