Megan Rapinoe suffered a humiliating defeat in court on Friday when a judge tossed out the equal pay claim in the US women’s soccer team’s lawsuit, reminding the women that they actually make more than the US men’s team.
US Women’s Soccer Star Megan Rapinoe Gets Shut Down By Judge
The Daily Caller reported that Rapinoe and her teammates have spent months fighting for equal pay and demanding $66 million in damages.
The US soccer federation, however, fired back saying that the women’s team was actually paid more overall than the men’s team during the time period in question.
The women tried to claim that this was only because they’d played more games, but Judge R. Gary Klausner was not having any of it.
Judge Klausner reminded the US women’s team that they “both played more games and made more money than the MNT [men’s national team] per game.”
The Judge further explained that he ultimately dismissed the claim because the US women’s national team previously “rejected an offer to be paid under the same pay-to-play structure” as the men.
“The WNT was willing to forgo higher bonuses for benefits, such as greater base compensation and the guarantee of a higher number of contracted players,” Klausner wrote, according to CBS News.
“Accordingly, plaintiffs cannot now retroactively deem their CBA (collective bargaining agreement) worse than the MNT (men’s national team) CBA by reference to what they would have made had they been paid under the MNT’s pay-to-play terms structure when they themselves rejected such a structure.”
Megan Rapinoe Is Furious
Rapinoe immediately took to Twitter to express her anger over the judge’s decision.
We will never stop fighting for EQUALITY.
— Megan Rapinoe (@mPinoe) May 2, 2020
The decision followed the US soccer federation’s argument that male and female players have “materially different jobs”, and that it takes more skill to compete in men’s soccer.
“The overall soccer-playing ability required to compete at the senior men’s national team level is materially influenced by the level of certain physical attributes, such as speed and strength, required for the job,” the federation stated.
Part Of The US Women Soccer Team’s Lawsuit Will Go Forward
While Judge Klausner tossed out a key component of the US women’s team’s case, he allowed them to move forward with their claim that they were discriminated against with various items such as money on airfare and hotels.
These claims will be heard in a trial which is set for June 16.
“We are shocked and disappointed with today’s decision, but we will not give up our hard work for equal pay,” U.S. women’s soccer team spokeswoman Molly Levinson tweeted after the ruling.
“We are confident in our case and steadfast in our commitment to ensuring that girls and women will not be valued as lesser just because of their gender.”
1/2 We are shocked and disappointed with today’s decision, but we will not give up our hard work for equal pay. We are confident in our case and steadfast in our commitment to ensuring that girls and women will not be valued as lesser just because of their gender.
— mollylevinson (@mollylevinson) May 1, 2020
The US women’s national soccer team has already expressed plans to appeal Judge Klausner’s decision.
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