USWNT players seek more than $66 million in discrimination case
U.S. women’s national team players have filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation.
The United States women’s national team soccer players are seeking more than $66 million in damages as part of their ongoing gender discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF). The claims were submitted in a Thursday night filling in the United States District Court in Los Angeles, California.
The trial is scheduled to start on May 5, 2020; the lawsuit was filed back in March of 2019 when the USWNT players accused the federation of gender discrimination that includes inequitable compensation between the men’s and women’s team, with the fact the women's team won the World Cup back-to-back being specifically cited.
The federation responds to the lawsuit
The USSF replied to the filing of the suit with an official statement: “We pay the women’s team differently because that is what they specifically wanted in the beginning and they were the ones who negotiated their contracts that were completely different to the men’s. We tried to offer them a similar salary but they denied our proposal the last time we sat down to negotiate.”
The USSF assured that it was the players who asked to be paid differently than the men. “The players from the women’s national team preferred a contract with better benefits for them that the men’s contract didn’t include. We guaranteed them yearly bonuses, medical and dental insurance as well as paid maternity leave, amongst other benefits that they demanded at the time.”