The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing Virginia-based Inova Home Health LLC and its owner, Ohio-based Alternate Solutions Health Network, for paying female post-acute care coordinators (PACCs) less than their male counterparts.
In a lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the EEOC claims the companies violated civil rights laws by paying the women less than men, even when doing the same job and in some cases outperforming their male colleagues. The suit further states that female PACCs with no performance issues were paid less than newly hired male PACCs, despite having more job-related experience and more seniority in the position. Inova Home Health and Alternate Solutions Health Network also refused to adjust wages after receiving a complaint about pay discrimination.
“Equal pay for equal work — it’s a simple premise and important legal obligation,” Debra Lawrence, EEOC’s regional attorney in Philadelphia, said in a statement. “The EEOC will hold employers accountable when they violate this obligation.”
The EEOC is charging the two firms with violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibits employers from discriminating against workers based on sex. An effort to reach a pre-litigation settlement through a conciliation process failed, resulting in the lawsuit.
The EEOC is seeking unspecified back pay, liquidated damages, punitive and compensatory damages, elimination of pay disparities and other injunctive relief to correct and prevent future pay discrimination.
Inova Home Health provides home healthcare coordination services to patients through the Inova Health System in Northern Virginia. The agency provides home health, personal care, skilled nursing, physical and occupational therapy services.
