Federal Judge Denies Megan Rapinoe And U.S. Women’s Team – Upholds Equal Pay Dismissal

Megan Rapinoe and the rest of the US Women’s Soccer team just suffered a major setback when a federal judge denied their request for an immediate appeal of his earlier decision to dismiss their claim of unequal pay against the US Soccer Federation.

Judge Upholds Ruling Against Megan Rapinoe And US Women’s Soccer Team 

Daily Mail reported that the female soccer players first launched their lawsuit back in May of 2018, when they asked for $66 million in damages under the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner had been asked by the players’ lawyers to enter a final judgment on his decision to dismiss the pay claim in the hopes that they could take the case to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, but he shot that attempt down on Tuesday. 

“The granting of an immediate appeal will not eliminate the possibility of two trials or the possibility of successive appeals involving interlocking facts,” Klausner wrote in his decision. “The court has declined the parties’ request to stay trial pending the resolution of any appeal. And should a jury render a verdict unfavorable to plaintiffs on their remaining claims, there is no reason to think plaintiffs will not appeal that decision.”

RELATED: Megan Rapinoe Is Livid When Judge Throws Out US Women’s Soccer Team’s Equal Pay Claim

Judge Klausner Previously Ruled Against U.S. Women’s Soccer Equal Pay Claim

This comes one month after Klausner ruled against the women, saying that they could not prove that there was discrimination of pay.

The Judge also partly granted the USSF’s motion for a partial summary judgment, saying that the women’s union had rejected an offer for the same pay-to-play setup that the male players have in place.

Instead, Klausner said that the female players took a deal in which they were given guaranteed salaries and greater benefits along with a different bonus structure.

At the time of that ruling, Rapinoe took to Twitter to express her frustrations about his decision. 

Needless to say, players from the US Women’s Soccer team are not happy about Judge Klausner’s latest ruling.

USWNT Fires Back

“One way or another, we intend to appeal the court’s decision which does not account for the central fact in this case that women players have been paid at lesser rates than men who do the same job,” Molly Levinson, a spokeswoman for the players, said in a statement.

“Tonight’s ruling simply means that an appeal may take longer to file and is a reminder that we must not give up our efforts both on and off the field to fight injustice,” she added. “Though we face significant challenges, we are strengthened by the reality that our effort is one part of the greater movement for equality happening in our country right now.”

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