After more than four years of litigation, Jennifer Freyd and the University of Oregon announced on Friday that they have settled the psychology professor's pay equity lawsuit.

According to their joint announcement,

Under the settlement, the University will pay Prof. Freyd and her attorneys $350,000 to cover her claims for damages as well as attorney’s fees over the four years of litigation.  In addition, the University will make a $100,000 donation to the Center for Institutional Courage, the foundation founded by Prof. Freyd dedicated to scientific research and action promoting institutional courage.

We are pleased to put this litigation behind us and together affirm our continued commitment to uncover, acknowledge, and address gender inequity and other forms of discrimination. 

I am glad to have the case settled for several reasons. One is the time and freedom it provides me to pursue my work on institutional betrayal and institutional courage. I am also glad for the financial support for the Center for Institutional Courage — a research and education nonprofit I founded in early 2020.

By preserving the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision regarding my lawsuit, the greatest value of the settlement for me is what it can mean for equity and equality in academia and beyond.

The Ninth Circuit’s decision establishes important precedent in two ways. It affirms the applicability of the Equal Pay Act to academic and professional jobs. The Ninth Circuit opinion also affirms that when employer practices like retention raises result in lower salaries for women, these practices may violate the law, even if the discriminatory outcome was unintentional (Title VII, disparate impact). The importance of this appeals court precedent has been noted in over two dozen publications.

I am grateful to my attorney Jennifer Middleton and her team who showed such dedication to equity and justice. I am also grateful to the many other attorneys and organizations around the country that supported, through amicus briefs and other mechanisms, our efforts to pursue justice and equity for women in this country.

I am also deeply appreciative of the support from my students and colleagues at the University of Oregon and more around the country, who have provided me much support while courageously speaking out about and confronting inequity and injustice.

In the years ahead I look forward to continuing to advance scientific research and education regarding institutional betrayal and institutional courage through the Center for Institutional Courage, with the goal to create more accountable, effective, and equitable institutions for everyone.