In the settlement filed last week, the company has also committed to paying out a sum $4m to be divided amongst the approximately 300 women who have taken part in the class action, all of whom have worked as attorneys for farmers in the last four-to-five years. Counsel for the plaintiffs—Lori Andrus of Andrus Anderson and Lori Costanzo of Costanzo Law Firm—have also proposed in the settlement to receive an additional $1.8m in fees from Farmers, which is to be paid on top of the $4m figure.
The class action lawsuit alleged systemic gender bias against female attorneys in areas of pay and advancement. The suit's lead plaintiff, Lynne Coates, worked as an attorney at the San Jose branch of Farmers Insurance and reported that while her own salary was capped at $100,000, a male colleague was paid between $150,000 and $200,000 for carrying out broadly similar tasks. When Ms Coates complained about the pay gap, she reported that she was essentially demoted from her attorney position and asked to handle more menial tasks.
As part of the settlement's nonmonetary commitments, Farmers must hire an independent consultant to help review its employment policies regarding attorney compensation, salary grade placement, performance evaluations and promotions. The company will also set benchmark targets for more female attorneys into higher pay brackets.
The suit involves both federal and California state equal pay laws and is one of the first major cases to test the bounds of the California Fair Pay Act since it came into law earlier this year. Farmers' settlement will be reviewed by a judge on June 23.
Source: The Recorder
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