Five stars from the World Cup-winning U.S. women's national team have accused the U.S. Soccer Federation of wage discrimination in an action filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Hope Solo maintain in the EEOC filing that they are paid nearly four times less than their male counterparts on the U.S. men's national team, based on U.S. Soccer's 2015 financial report. The filing was announced Thursday in a statement from the law firm representing the players.
Women's advocates in Boston want the Massachusetts State House to do more to ensure women receive "equal pay for equal work." A press event earlier this month mostly celebrated proposed legislation to increase penalties for businesses violating equal pay statutes and further regulate compensation practices, but some women leaders recognized that laws alone cannot eradicate the wage gap between men and women.
Megan Costello, director of Boston's women's advancement office, was quoted in the NewBostonPost explaining: "It's not just up to government, it's not just about legislation…. This has to be a collective effort – of government, of business, of the nonprofit world, of individual citizens – because we do not do this alone."
